Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. Treasury set aside 600 million pounds more to cover the costs of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the budget for the two conflicts to 8 billion pounds ($16 billion).

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown had allocated 7.4 billion pounds to a special reserve to cover the costs of the wars through the fiscal year ending in April 2007.

``To fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Iraq and other international obligations the Secretary of Defence has been allocated an additional 600 million pounds,'' Brown said in his pre-budget statement to Parliament in London today.

He also pledged 84 million pounds to the intelligence services to counter terrorism, taking the amount spent on security up to 2 billion pounds in the fiscal year through April 2008 compared with 1 billion pounds fiscal 2002.

``As the threats our forces face become more sophisticated our response has to be equally if not more sophisticated, which often requires enhanced equipment and therefore additional funding,'' said Paul Smyth, a military analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

Brown added 800 million pounds to the reserve in March 2006 and 580 million pounds in his pre-budget statement in December 2005. Prime Minister Tony Blair's government maintains more than 7,000 troops in Iraq and 3,000 in Afghanistan.

Three years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and ousting of dictator Saddam Hussein, Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush are under increasing pressure to find an exit strategy.

President George W. Bush has dropped the phrase ``stay the course'' from his remarks about Iraq, emphasizing instead that the U.S. is being flexible in its approach. Blair's government has said it will bring thousands of troops home next year.

In Britain, which has lost a total of 120 soldiers in Iraq since 2003, 61 percent of voters want troops pulled out by the end of this year and 45 percent support an immediate withdrawal, according to an ICM Ltd. poll published Oct. 24. The survey was taken after British General Richard Dannatt said troops risk exhaustion and called for the government to lower its ambitions.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kitty Donaldson in London at kdonaldson1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 6, 2006 09:58 EST