LONDON, Sept 8: Britain said on Monday it was sending around 1,200 extra troops to Iraq to tackle escalating violence, and promised further reinforcements to help restore the country’s crippled infrastructure.

The deployment, which will boost Britain’s military presence in southern Iraq to 12,000, comes after leaked documents last week showed the government believed more troops were urgently needed to avoid a security collapse in Iraq.

“There is an immediate requirement for two battalions and some additional specialist personnel,” Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said in a written statement to parliament. British battalions are usually between 600 and 700-strong.

The announcement followed a US plea for more non-American troops to counter violence and share the cost of occupying Iraq. Washington wants another 15,000 soldiers from other nations to back its own 130,000-strong force.

The British troops will stay in Iraq until November and could be replaced “if the requirement remained”.

Nearly 11,000 British troops have been supporting the US-led occupation, but have come under regular attack.

Mr Hoon said there had been a “disturbing increase in terrorism against civilian targets”, but Britain would not be deflected from the long-term goal of bringing stability to Iraq.

“We are determined to help the Iraqi people to forge a new, peaceful and secure future for themselves and we will meet this commitment with appropriate forces in Iraq for as long as required,” he said.

“RISK OF FAILURE”: Last week The Daily Telegraph reported Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as saying the United States and Britain risked “strategic failure” unless they sent more troops to Iraq to improve security and speed up moves to self-government.