Australian troops to leave Afghanistan earlier

By sagarmedia on April 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment | Edit

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says most of her country’s troops will leave Afghanistan by the end of next year, nearly a year earlier than initially scheduled.
Australia is part of a NATO-led multinational force in Afghanistan. It has about 1,500 troops there and had originally planned to complete the withdrawal by the end of 2014.
Gillard gave a speech in Canberra on Tuesday. She said that improvement in the security situation in the southern province where Australian troops are stationed has made it possible to pull them out earlier than planned.
She also said that Afghan President Hamid Karzai plans to announce in the next few months the transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces in the area.
At the same time, she made it clear that Australia will continue its assistance to Afghanistan in many ways even after the transition of responsibilities and the withdrawal of the troops.