Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron, centre, meets with unidentified British soldiers in their living quarters at Shawqat forward operating base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Wednesday July 18, 2012, during a surprise visit to the area. Earlier he met Afghan National Police chiefs in Lashkar Gah. (AP Photo/Stefan Rousseau, Pool)
July 18, 2012 - 10:17 AM
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan - British Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting Afghanistan to discuss plans to reduce troop numbers ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of international forces at the end of 2014.
Cameron is holding talks Wednesday with British and Afghan officials in the southern province of Helmand, where Britain has around 9,500 troops.
Britain will withdraw 500 troops by December but has yet to confirm how many will leave in 2013 or 2014. Officials have cautioned against public hopes of a major drawdown next year.
Cameron also is meeting with British troops, after his Defence Secretary Philip Hammond acknowledged morale within the military was "fragile."
Britain's army will shrink from 102,000 troops to 82,000 by 2020 under government spending cuts.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012