Britain will send an extra of 220 troops to Iraq, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced Thursday.

An MoD spokesman said the new troops would replace the Dutch troops in Iraq who are due to return home in March.

Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said in a parliamentary statement that military chiefs had decided that 600 people were enough to cover Iraq's southern province of Muthanna which is currently patrolled by 1,400 Dutch troops.

Most of that 600 will come from British units already deployed in Iraq, but an extra 220 is needed to provide logistics and othersupport, he said.