British Prime Minister David Cameron wants UK troops out of Afghanistan within five years, BBC online reports Friday.
Speaking in Canada, Mr Cameron said he wanted to see troops home by the time of the next general election, due in 2015, “make no mistake about it”.
However, ahead of talks with US President Barack Obama on Saturday, Mr Cameron said he preferred not to “deal in too strict timetables”. Some 307 UK forces personnel have died since the Afghan mission began in 2001.
President Obama wants a US drawdown of troops to begin next summer although US General David Petraeus – who this week replaced the sacked commander of multinational forces Stanley McChrystal – is among those insisting that has to be based on conditions on the ground.
10.000 British soldiers are based in Afghanistan, many fighting a counter-insurgency campaign in the southern Helmand province (hvor også de danske soldater befinder sig, red.).
Last summer the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee said British troops were trying to do too much and had experienced “mission creep”.
It said the initial goal of supporting the US in countering international terrorism had stretched into the realms of “counter-insurgency, counter-narcotics, protection of human rights and state-building”.
