Spain to start pulling troops out of Afghanistan in 2012
November 18th, 2010 - 8:16 pm ICT by BNO NewsMADRID (BNO NEWS) — Spanish troops could start its pull out from Afghanistan in 2012, Spanish media reported on Thursday quoting NATO sources.
According to El Pais newspaper, NATO expects Spain to begin handing over the Afghan western Badghis province to local authorities within 18 months, a NATO source said. The pullout will reduce the number of Spanish troops in Afghanistan, where they now number 1,550, according to El Pais.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, under opposition pressure, has said that Spanish troops will stay in Afghanistan “as long as it is needed, until the Afghans can manage their own security.”
Sweden, France, Italy and Germany have already announce that their areas will be among the first to be handed over to the Afghans starting in 2011.
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