Britain will pull thousands of its troops out of Afghanistan next year, said Defence Secretary Philip Hammond on Sunday. The substantial drawdowns will come a year ahead of the slated withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2014. “I would expect it will be significant, which means thousands, not hundreds, but I would not expect it to be the majority,” Hammond said. Four hundred twenty-four British troops have been killed in Afghanistan during the more than a decade that coalition forces have been in the country.
