Britain will slash its military force in Afghanistan next year, withdrawing nearly 4,000 troops as local security forces become increasingly capable, Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday.
Cameron told parliament that the current force of 9,000 British troops would be reduced to 5,200 by the end of 2013 and that most of the rest would leave the following year.
Britain, the United States and other Nato nations in Afghanistan are due to withdraw all combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 when they will hand over responsibility for security to Afghan forces.
But the government has faced pressure at home to speed up the withdrawal from Afghanistan following a series of "insider attacks", in which Afghans in army uniform have attacked British and other foreign soldiers.
Cameron said the withdrawal was possible "because of the success of our forces and the Afghan National Security Forces".