**President Barack Obama is to announce that he is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, to deploy within six months, US officials have said.**Mr Obama will make the much-anticipated announcement as part of a speech at West Point, detailing his new strategy for taking on the Taliban.
He has briefed his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on the plan.
The US currently has 68,000 troops in Afghanistan, with foreign forces overall totalling more than 100,000.
Mr Obama’s announcement comes amid growing domestic concern over the Afghan war.
On Monday, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced he would send 500 more soldiers to the country.