Cameron set to withdraw 500 more soldiers
Britain's troop numbers in Afghanistan will fall dramatically after 2014, David Cameron signalled today.
He announced that 500 more servicemen and women will be withdrawn next year, on top of 426 already being pulled out this year.
The Prime Minister was pressed by former chancellor Alistair Darling on how many of Britain's current force of 9,500 will remain once it no longer engages in combat roles from the end of 2014.
"It will be obviously way, way down from the sorts of figures we are talking about today," Mr Cameron told the Commons.
He vowed to stick to his timetable for British troops to move from a combat role to training posts with a "Sandhurst in the sand" being set up for Afghan officers.
The Prime Minister is seen to have bowed to warnings by military chiefs against any hasty withdrawal of British forces which could plunge the war-torn country into further chaos.
On a trip to Afghanistan this week, he stressed that any short-term pull-outs would be "modest", saying there would be no "radical change" in numbers for the next year.
The Government has been under pressure to follow the example of US president Barack Obama, who announced last month that 10,000 troops deployed as part of the so-called "surge" strategy would be coming home by the end of this year, and another 23,000 next.
But military chiefs had spoken out against any rush to pull out troops. General Sir David Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff, who accompanied the Prime Minister on the Afghan trip, welcomed his announcement.
"The meetings we held with ground commanders confirmed my view that the military contribution to the assistance mission in Afghanistan is on track to hand over the lead for combat operations to Afghan forces by the end of 2014," General Richards said.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox added: "This is by no means a rush for the exit. We and our allies will maintain a very strong relationship with Afghanistan long into the future."
Labour leader Ed Miliband also backed the outlined withdrawal plan. "This will give our forces the best chance of consolidating the situation before the process of transition to Afghan control accelerates in 2012 and 2013 when our forces can start to come home in greater numbers," he said.
Mr Cameron also paid tribute to Scott McLaren, 20, of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. He vanished from a checkpoint in Helmand on Monday and was shot dead after apparently been captured by the Taliban.
