Britain is to send an extra 500 troops to Afghanistan, Gordon Brown will confirm in a statement to MPs later today.
The announcement comes after the government received assurances over vehicle and equipment supplies.
This was one of the three conditions Brown said must be met before he would send more troops. The others were a commitment by the Afghan government to train more local forces and assurances over burden-sharing from Nato allies.
Ministers confirmed that newly arrived Merlin helicopters were ready for operations a month ahead of schedule. They have undergone a £42.5m upgrade programme since returning from operations in Iraq to prepare for difficult conditions in Afghanistan.
President Obama is expected to announce on Tuesday that the US will send another 35,000 troops to Afghanistan. His decision follows months of deliberation by the government over military strategy towards the country.
Both Obama and Brown are determined to secure new commitments from Pakistan to target the leadership of al-Qaeda, who have evaded international forces since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Brown will hold talks with Pakistani prime minister Raza Gilani on Thursday.
Speaking yesterday, Brown said: "The Pakistan government has started to take on the Taliban and to take on al-Qaeda in South Waziristan, but we have got to ask ourselves why, eight years after September 11, nobody has been able to spot or detain or get close to Osama bin Laden, nobody has been able to get close to Zawahiri, the number two of al Qaida".
He added: "We have got to ask the Pakistani security forces, army and politicians to join us in the major effort that the world is committing resources to, not only to isolate al Qaida but to break them in Pakistan."
