JOIN USBritain will withdraw 3,800 troops, almost half of the current force serving in Afghanistan’s troubled Helmand province, by the end of 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Wednesday.
Cameron told the Parliament that 3,800 British troops are to be withdrawn from Afghanistan next year. Troop numbers are already being reduced from 9,500 to 9,000 before Christmas. And numbers would fall to about 5,200 by the end of 2013, Cameron told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions.
The announcement comes after an hour-long video call yesterday between Cameron and US President Barack Obama. All Nato operations in Afghanistan are due to finish by the end of 2014, with responsibility being transferred to Afghan forces. Britain is the second largest contributor to the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan. The majority of UK armed forces operate in the southern province of Helmand.
But a small number of British troops would remain in the country, working at an officer training academy and “involved in returning equipment and dealing with logistics”, Cameron was quoted as saying by the BBC.