The size of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) has reached a record low, with an average of 540 soldiers leaving every month this year.

Defense Secretary John Reid has acknowledged that the death of four young soldiers at the Deepcut training barracks between 1995 and 2002 has affected recruiting for the regular Army.

The strength of the Territorial Army is currently 35,500, about 6,000 fewer than the government said was needed when it published its strategic defense review in 1998.

The Ministry of Defense said attitude surveys carried out with all TA personnel on being demobilized had not singled out the campaign in Iraq as the main reason for their wanting to leave. But insiders believe the war in Iraq is a contributing factor, the Times reported on Monday.

Figures of soldiers leaving the TA show that since the war began in 2003, the numbers have risen significantly, from 160 in April 2003 to 690 in November of that year, and 540 in August this year.

The TA has had to supply about 10 percent of the British troops in southern Iraq since March 2003, when 8,690 reservists were mobilized to support Operation Telic, codename for the campaign, either in Iraq or in the United Kingdom, for six months at a time. This dropped to 2,460 in 2004 and to 1,430 this year.

Reservists are also expected to be part of the larger British troop contribution being prepared for Afghanistan. The British government is expected to make an announcement soon on reinforcements to be sent to the country from March.

Britain currently has just under 1,000 military personnel in Afghanistan, including an Royal Air Force detachment in Kandahar in the south.

Defense Secretary Reid confirmed on Sunday that more British troops were to be sent to the south next year, to be based at north of Kandahar.

Source: Xinhua