France starts Afghan drawdown with departure of 200 soldiers

Oct 19, 2011, 10:14 GMT

Kabul - France started its military drawdown with the first 200 soldiers leaving Afghanistan Wednesday, a spokesman for the French forces said, marking the start of the plan announced by French President Nicholas Sarkozy in July.

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Sabatier said 200 more would leave by the end of the year and 600 more by the end of 2012.

'The outgoing soldiers were Legionnaires based in Surobi district of Kabul province,' he said.

Surobi is the only district in the province where security responsibility has not been handed over from NATO-led forces to Afghan forces, a process that started in July with seven areas.

At least 22 French soldiers have been killed this year, bringing the total number to 75, according to an independent tally website iCasualties.org.

There are currently 4,000 French troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led coalition, mostly based in Kapisa province and the Surobi district of Kabul province.

Michael said most of those leaving were combat soldiers but said the withdrawal would not affect ongoing operations.

The United States has been drawing down its forces since July in a process which will see 33,000 US personnel going home by September 2012. Britain, Belgium and Germany have also announced partial withdrawal plans.

There are around 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan. US and NATO forces have committed to stay until 2014.

Security analysts are sceptical about the capability of Afghan forces with violence increasing in recent months.

The United Nations last month said security incidents increased in the first eight months by 39 per cent compared to same period last year.

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