US troops withdrawal

US President Barack Obama said late Wednesday in Washington that 33,000 American soldiers would be withdrawn from Afghanistan in the next 15 months, in a process to begin in July.

"It is to be stated clearly that there is no reason to be concerned," spokesman General Zahir Azimi said, "because the withdrawal of these soldiers will not affect security or planned operations."

Afghanistan needs 400,000 soldiers

There are more than 160,000 army and nearly 120,000 police personnel trained by US and other Western allies since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001. The total number of Afghan forces is expected to reach 305,000 by October this year.

Afghan officials have said that the country needs 400,000 security forces in total to take over responsibility for security and fighting insurgents, which is planned for 2014.

Britain talks to the Taliban

Meanwhile, Britain is involved in talks with the Taliban, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday. "It is fair for us to say officially that contacts do take place and Britain, let me put it this way, is connected to that and supportive," Hague told BBC radio during a trip to Kabul.

Karzai announced on Saturday that the United States was holding talks with the Taliban, the first official confirmation of the negotiations, and Gates confirmed the following day that US officials were in "outreach" negotiations.

Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, making it the second largest contributor of troops to the NATO force in Afghanistan after the United States.

dpa,afp