DUSHANBE, July 16, 2011, Asia-Plus — The first U.S. troops have left Afghanistan as part of President Barack Obama”s planned drawdown of about a third of the 100,000 U.S. forces there during the next year.
The first batch of 650 US army troops was reportedly flown out from the Parwan province northwest of Kabul on July 13.
According to Reuters, U.S. Lt. Col. Wayne Perry, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said about 650 troops who had completed their rotation in Afghanistan left on Wednesday as scheduled, and would not be replaced. “As part of the drawdown the first U.S. troops have left Afghanistan,” he said.
The units that left were the Army National Guard”s 1st Squadron, 134th Cavalry Regiment, based in Kabul, and the Army National Guard”s 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, which had been in neighboring Parwan province, Reuters reports.
President Barack Obama announced last month that 10,000 American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of the year, and another 23,000 by September 2012. The first 10,000 troops will come back to the United States by the end of the year, but President Obama left the details up to his commanders.
Afghan security forces are to take over security responsibility from foreign forces in seven areas of the country this summer. Afghan forces will then take the lead in securing the entire country by the end of 2014.
