Britain to Withdraw 3,800 Troops from Afghanistan, Says Cameron

Britain will withdraw 3,800 of its 9,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday.

"We'll be able to see troops come home in two relatively even steps in 2013, 2014, leaving probably around 5,200 troops after the end of 2013 compared with the 9,000 that we have now," Cameron told parliament.

Cameron said there was no final decision on how many British troops would stay in Afghanistan after the end of 2014. That is when NATO will end all combat operations and hand over responsibility to local security forces.

But he said Britain would honor its commitment to help set up an officer training academy for the Afghans.

The government has faced growing pressure at home to speed up the withdrawal from Afghanistan, following a series of "insider attacks", in which Afghans in army uniform have attacked British soldiers.

Britain has been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001.