Australia flags early troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

Nov 22, 2011, 1:29 GMT

Sydney - Australian troops could be withdrawn from Afghanistan up to a year ahead of schedule, Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Tuesday.

Australia is scheduled to hand over responsibility for security in the southern province of Uruzgan in 2014, but recent government statements indicate the transfer could come much earlier.

Smith told Sky News that the primary mission of training the Afghan army could be completed by the end of 2013.

'I'm deliberately not being definitive about it because some people will immediately rush to post that as a precise date,' he said.

Australia, which has around 1,550 troops in Afghanistan, has had a rash of casualties in recent weeks that has fed public clamour to bring them home.

Thirty-two soldiers have died and 200 been wounded, including 48 this year.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard acknowledged public disquiet about the toll, saying that a withdrawal depended on progress of training.

'The timing to complete transition in Uruzgan is not yet decided, but given the progress we now see it may well be completed before the end of 2014,' she said.

Opinion polls show more than 70 per cent of people say are against the war in Afghanistan.

This month saw a third incident in which troops were fired on by a rogue Afghan soldier, an episode that Gillard said would 'corrode trust' between Australians and the Afghan recruits.

Read more about Australia