US Edition The force, to be composed of bomb disposal technicians and intelligence staff, are expected to arrive in Afghanistan in the next few weeks and details of the deployment will be announced by John Hutton, the defence secretary, in Parliament in the next month.
This latest reinforcement will bring troop levels in southern Afghanistan to around 8,600. The size of the force is likely to increase to around 10,000 in the autumn or early next year with the deployment of an additional 1,000 strong battle group into Helmand.
It is understood that extra ammunition technical officers (ATOs), who specialise in bomb disposal, will work closely with troops from the Intelligence Corps to try and discover IED supply routes into Helmand and the location of bomb factories.
Taliban IED attacks now account for around 70 to 80 per cent of all casualties suffered by British troops, according to defence sources.
In the past 10 weeks 12 servicemen have been killed by IEDs and more than 30 have been injured, many of whom have lost limbs. In one week in December, five Royal Marines are believed to have suffered traumatic amputations after being blown up by IEDs.
There are also fears that more suicide bombers will be used to target British troops. In 2008, five servicemen were killed in two separate attacks in the Sangin area of Helmand.
The use of IEDs by the Taliban has increased by more than 400 per cent since 2006 when British troops first deployed to Helmand.
Defences officials believe that Taliban fighters are being trained to make IEDs in Madrassas, or religious schools, in neighbouring Pakistan.
On returning to Helmand, the Taliban are establishing bomb factories where the crude but effective devices, including suicide vests, are being produced.
Although much of the explosive is "home made" or salvaged from bombs and mines left over from the Soviet occupation, the actual detonating devices are becoming increasing sophisticated and are being manufactured to order in Pakistan.
Mr Hutton, who has just returned from visiting British troops in Helmand, was told by senior commanders that the change in Taliban tactics had led to scores of casualties in the last few months.
General David Petraeus, the commander of the US's Central Command, is due to visit the UK in the next few weeks where he will ask Gordon Brown and British defence chiefs if they are willing to send extra forces to Afghanistan to support the 20,000 strong American troop surge.
Although Britain is due to withdraw the majority of its 4,000 strong forces from Iraq this summer, British commanders have insisted that these troops will not be redeployed to Afghanistan.
An MoD spokesman said: "A significant number of casualties in Afghanistan are the result of improvised explosive devices.
"We are undertaking significant work to investigate ways of better protecting our soldiers from this constantly evolving threat. We keep troop levels under constant review."
In a separate development, Royal Marines from 45 Commando, captured a Taliban command post and an IED factory in an area just north of Forward Operating Base Inkerman in central Helmand.
The troops discovered two intact IEDs primed for use against British troops, fuses, weapons and home made explosives.
During the mission, called Operation Lion, the commandos also became embroiled in a bitter firefight with the Taliban but no British casualties were sustained.