Afghan President Hamid Karzai has welcomed a planned partial withdrawal of British troops from his war-ravaged country next year.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cThe decision by Britain is a well-timed decision. The Afghan national forces are ready to provide the security and defend their country,\u201d a statement from Karzai’s office said on Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n
The statement came after British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that London will withdraw almost half of the country’s 9,000 troops from Afghanistan in 2014.\n<\/p>\n
However, the partial pullout contradicts agreement that calls for the full departure of foreign forces from Afghanistan by the end of next year.\n<\/p>\n
British troops have been based in Afghanistan\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s southern Helmand province since the US-led war in Afghanistan began. Some nine-thousand troops are currently stationed in the war-ravaged country.\n<\/p>\n
According to the latest figures released by the website icasualties.org<\/i>, 3308 foreign soldiers, including a total of 444 British troops, have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led war began in October 2001.\n<\/p>\n
The increasing number of military casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.\n<\/p>\n
The US-led war in Afghanistan removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan, despite the presence of thousands of US-led troops.\n<\/p>\n
JR\/KA
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