Wednesday, May 18 – British Prime Minister David Cameron announced to start the withdrawal of British Troops from Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister said that first batch of 450 Troops will leave Afghanistan and will be brought home this year.
The prime minister’s decision to reduce force levels comes after a vigorous debate with defence chiefs over the pace of withdrawals, which are designed to leave no combat troops in Afghanistan by 2015.
Mr. Cameron yesterday told MPs, “There will be around 400 troops, perhaps slightly more, coming out of Afghanistan in the coming year.”
While about 9,500 troops will still be deployed in the fight against the Taliban, Mr Cameron’s decision will dismay some army figures who believe the rapid exit meets a political rather than military timetable.
Although some 400 troops will come home, the “enduring force level” will remain unchanged at 9,500 because the number of troops in theatre had been above that for some time. The Treasury has long suspected the army of deliberately overshooting the financial cap on deployed troops.
