Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. will send 3,300 troops to southern Afghanistan, aiming to curb drug production and aid reconstruction in a 1 billion pound ($1.8 billion) operation.

``We cannot risk Afghanistan once again becoming a sanctuary for terrorists,'' U.K. Defense Secretary John Reid told lawmakers today in the House of Commons. ``We cannot go on accepting Afghan opium being the source of 90 percent of the heroin injected into the veins of our young people.''

The total British deployment, which will last three years, will peak at 5,700 before falling to 4,700 over June and July this year as engineering forces withdraw after building bases in southern Helmand region, Reid said.

U.S. and allied forces currently have more than 21,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, 1,100 of them British. The U.K. is also sending more than 1,000 headquarters staff to lead the International Security Assistance Force. Foreign forces have been in the country since the Taliban regime was ousted in the U.S.-led war on terrorism in December 2001.

The cost of the operation will be spread over five years, Reid said. No troops will need to be withdrawn from Iraq, he said. A ``small number'' of reservists, drawn mainly from the Royal Rifle Volunteers and the Parachute Regiment, will be called up.

Regular Troops

The regular troops will include headquarters staff from 16 Air Assault Brigade, the Parachute Regiment, eight Apache attack helicopters, four Lynx helicopters and six Chinook helicopters.

``Our forces will not only face a resurgent Taliban but they will face a network of warlords across Afghanistan,'' said Peter Kilfoyle, a former Labour defense minister. ``I am confused about what our objectives are.''

``We are facing terrain which is far more difficult than Vietnam, said Sir Peter Tapsell, a Conservative lawmaker. ``We are asking the army to go into a country in pursuit of unattainable objectives.''

Reid earlier briefed U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and fellow Cabinet members on the deployment. The aim of the mission is to ``build on what we have done in Afghanistan and prevent a slide back to the Taliban,'' Blair's spokesman Tom Kelly told reporters today.

Reid said yesterday he had been planning to make an announcement on deployments in November, and then postponed it because the Dutch government had second thoughts about its own plans to send troops to the region.

Dutch Parliament

The Dutch parliament is due to vote Feb. 2 on a proposal to send an additional 1,400 soldiers to Afghanistan. Dutch foreign minister Ben Bot said Jan. 15 he was ``positive'' lawmakers would give approval.

U.K. Conservative lawmaker Michael Ancram expressed concern that the Dutch are reviewing the deployment ``so late in the day,'' and asked how Britain would respond if they decide against deploying their troops.

Reid said, ``We will not be plugging the gap, but the gap will be plugged'' by other nations in NATO. He said that in southern Afghanistan the British troops will be working alongside forces from the U.S., Canada, Romania and Estonia.

NATO currently has 9,000 troops from 35 nations in Afghanistan. Germany contributed 2,200, Italy 2,000 and Canada 800. Spain and France each sent 500, according to NATO's Web site. Canada on Jan. 21 began deploying more than 1,000 troops there, intending to increase numbers to 2,200 by February.

Worst Year

Afghanistan, which held parliamentary elections in September, in 2005 had its worst year for violence since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.

Recent attacks included two suicide bombings on Nov. 14 targeting the international peacekeeping force. The incident on the main road between Kabul and the eastern city of Jalalabad killed nine people, including a German soldier serving with the International Security Assistance Force.

Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban's fugitive leader, in November called on the Afghan people to join a ``holy war'' against U.S. forces combating fighters from the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban movement.

The lack of security will allow Afghanistan, the world's biggest producer of opium poppies, to maintain production levels next year, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime said in a report published on Nov. 23.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 26, 2006 08:48 EST