Kabul, Dec 7: British Prime Minister David Cameron, on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, said today he hoped that British troops could start withdrawing next year thanks to inroads against the Taliban.
Cameron's second visit to Afghanistan as prime minister comes days after leaked American diplomatic cables showed heavy criticism by US and Afghan officials of the performance of British forces.
Speaking to reporters at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand province, Cameron said he believed the 2011 date was feasible.
"In terms of the ground being covered, the amount of public being protected, the training of the Afghan National Army that is ahead of schedule, the Helmand police training centre and also the mood of the Paras and Royal Scots that I met -- I think that does give you grounds for cautious optimism that this is going in the right direction," he said.
Cameron left on Sunday for Afghanistan where around 10,000 British troops are stationed -- the second biggest contribution after the United States to the more than 140,000 NATO-led troops fighting a nine-year Taliban insurgency.
Downing Street gave no date for the end of his visit.
He was accompanied by Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards, who had previously ruled out the prospects of a British withdrawal starting next year.
Asked if he now believed 2011 was realistic, Richards said: "I do. It is conditions-based next year but looking at the progress we have made -- I was only here three months ago -- it is quite astronomical how quickly things are coming together."
The last year has seen a massive build-up of US-led forces, trying to drive the Taliban from their strongholds in Kandahar and Helmand provinces as part of a new strategy designed to bring Western troops home as soon as possible.
Cameron held talks today with Helmand governor Gulab Mangal, provincial government spokesman Daud Ahmadi said.
Mangal was cited in the cables released by Internet whistleblower WikiLeaks as one of the officials criticising the British.
According to US cables in January 2009, the governor accused the British of doing too little to interact with the local community, instead being holed up in their main base in Sangin district. PTI
