US President Barack Obama was expected to announce Wednesday that 33,000 soldiers will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 2012, starting with 10,000 set to come home by the end of this year, dpa reported.
The numbers and timeframes were reported by the Washington Post and New York Times hours ahead of his evening address, based on comments from administration officials.
Obama was to address the nation at 0000 GMT to outline his plan for Afghanistan, as he has comes under increasing pressure to move more quickly to end the military intervention.