- Prime Minister David Cameron agreed move with President Obama last night
- Numbers will be reduced to a token force by 2014
By Tim Shipman
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More than 3,800 British troops fighting in Afghanistan will be home by Christmas next year, David Cameron announced yesterday.
The plan is a further step to the withdrawal of all UK forces from a combat role by 2014, but ministers have denied that the process has been speeded up.
The Prime Minister told the House of Commons that troop levels pitted against the Taliban are to be cut by almost half of their current strength by the end of 2013, down from 9,000 to 5,200.
Prime Minister David Cameron agreed the withdrawal of 4,000 British troops from Afghanistan during a telephone call with President Barack Obama last night
Mr Cameron made the decision after commanders told him that Afghan forces will be able to assume the lead role in combat operations across the country next year.
UK forces are already beginning to pull out of mentoring Afghan troops at the? frontline.
By the end of 2013 they will only advise at brigade level, leaving Afghan commanders to run combat operations.
Mr Cameron said: ?Because of the success of our forces and the Afghan National Security Forces, we will be able to see troops come home in two relatively even steps ? 2013 and 2014 ? leaving probably around 5,200 troops after the end of 2013, compared with the 9,000 that we have now.?
However, senior Government sources said that the eventual number coming home in 12 months time could in fact be nearer to 4,000.
Mr Cameron announced the reduction in British troops in Afghanistan during Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons
The Prime Minister has said that by the end of 2014 Britain will no longer be taking part in combat operations. But he signalled that a token force would stay to help at a Sandhurst-style officer training college that the UK is helping to set up.
?After December 2014, there will still be some troops involved in returning equipment and dealing with logistics,? he said.
He added: ?We will not be leaving Afghanistan in terms of our support and our help for the Afghans.
?We will be contributing ?70million a year to help pay for the Afghan National Security Forces, we will have an aid programme in excess of ?70million a year.?
Chancellor George Osborne has been pushing for a speedy withdrawal to save money. The Afghan war is expected to have cost taxpayers ?20billion by the end of next year.
But Defence Secretary Philip Hammond denied that the Government has speeded up the withdrawal.
Mr Hammond said: ?It?s not a speeded up anything.
?This is us announcing today our planning for the trajectory between where we are now, which is 9,000 troops in theatre, and where we need to get to by the end of 2014, which is the finish of our combat operations.?
Afghan forces now have lead security responsibility in areas which are home to three-quarters of the country?s population, and are providing a lead role on more than 80 per cent of conventional operations and carrying out 90 per cent of their own training, he said.
British numbers in Afghanistan will be reduced to a token force by 2014
The ability of the Afghan forces to take on the Taliban has been questioned as a result of a series of 'green on blue' incidents which have seen Taliban sympathisers infiltrate the local security forces and murder British soldiers
In Helmand province, where the bulk of UK troops are based, Mr Hammond said the Afghans are now ?firmly in charge? in populated areas.
The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir David Richards, said drawdown plans were ?based on military advice? and followed discussion with General John Allen, the leading US commander in Afghanistan.
?The Afghan National Army and police have greatly improved in the past years,? General Richards said.
?To be in the position where we are now able to commit to reducing UK force levels to around 5,200 by the end of next year is testament to the professionalism and courage of those personnel who have served, and continue to serve, in Afghanistan.?
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