U.S. President Barack Obama is to announce a plan of troops drawdown from Afghanistan on Wednesday, local media quoted officials as saying.
Officials who spoke in condition of anonymity Monday evening said Obama will announce both the start of troops drawdown next month as well as a broader withdrawal blueprint that will hand over security responsibility to Afghans in 2014, Xinhua reported.
According to the White House, Obama on Monday is still finalizing the pace and scope of the drawdown, and he has had a number of consultations with members of his national security team and military leaders on the subject.
Obama announced an increase of U.S. troops to Afghanistan late 2009, with the beginning of the drawdown set to begin next month. Reports have been indicating the administration is weighing how many troops the initial drawdown would involve, as support of the war has been subsiding since the killing of al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden.