The prospect of more British troops being sent to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan was signalled by Tony Blair yesterday.

The move followed an exclusive report in The Herald in which it was revealed that during a private meeting in No 10 on Sunday, Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, asked the Prime Minister for additional British forces to keep up the military momentum against the insurgents.

While Downing St had previously refused to comment on what it termed "private discussions", Mr Blair, in response to the reports about the request, said: "In respect of Afghanistan, it depends on what our military are saying to us. We take the decisions basically about the resource . . . but in terms of what is necessary to do the job in terms of force generation we very much take advice from the people on the ground, so it depends on what they come forward to us with."

He added at his monthly press conference: "It is very important that the Taliban are defeated. One of the reasons why these fights have been going on in past two days is precisely to degrade Taliban capability and are forces are doing a very good job."

Military sources have suggested that the US request could result in as many as 1000 extra British troops being sent to Afghanistan. If it happens, then it will put further pressure on a stretched - some say overstretched - army, which is already struggling to cope with a rolling deployment of 5800 soldiers to Afghanistan and 7100 to Iraq every six months.

The Americans have 20,000 troops in Afghanistan and are about to take command of all Nato forces, including the British, next month. The Pentagon is keen to reduce its commitment there to create reserves for Iraq.

UK generals expect a renewed Taliban spring offensive in Helmand province from the end of next month and would welcome more troops and helicopters.

Meanwhile, Pakistani helicopter gunships attacked a suspected al Qaeda hideout in a forest near the Afghan border yesterday, killing up to 10 people.

The dawn raid in South Waziristan came as Mr Gates visited Afghanistan amid growing pressure on Pakistan to crack down on militants launching cross-border attacks.

Pakistan's army said intelligence sources confirmed the presence of 25 to 30 militants, including four or five unidentified al Qaeda terrorists, in five compounds around Zamzola village.

Major General Shaukat Sultan reported eight militants dead and 10 wounded. Tribesmen, however, staged a protest, saying the dead were woodcutters, not terrorists.