MoD denies Nato claim of larger Afghan deployment

The Ministry of Defence has denied a claim it may send more troops to Afghanistan, after a spokesman for the Nato secretary general said he understood the UK was considering "potentially increasing" its force.

Nato sources later backtracked on spokesman James Appathurai's remark, stressing he was not expecting any offer of additional UK troops and was simply seeking to reflect the solid nature of Britain's 7,700-strong commitment to the International Security Assistance Force. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We are not about to make any future announcement on troop levels."

Mr Appathurai was speaking ahead of a Nato summit in the Netherlands this week, at which the organisation's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, will call for more troops in Afghanistan. He estimates the force is up to 10 per cent below intended capacity and needs more helicopters, transport aircraft and training units.

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, is expected to hold talks with Gordon Brown on the future of Britain's commitment to Afghanistan during his visit to the UK this week.