Reports: Obama administration prepares preliminary withdrawal plan for Afghanistan; Bomb explosion kills four NATO troops in Eastern Afghanistan; NATO helicopter crashes in Eastern Afghanistan, killing two people
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    • According to reports, the Obama administration appears set to announce initial troop pullout from Afghanistan. Some current and former officials say Obama could easily announce a pullout of at least 10,000 troops over the next year as the administration seeks to capitalize on gains against the Taliban in the south and the Navy SEAL raid last month that killed the al Qaeda leader in Pakistan. Reports noted that a final decision is yet to be made and as far as sources are concerned White House has received no formal recommendation on number of soldiers to be withdrawn from a pool of 100,000 US force in Afghanistan. General David Petraeus, the commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, is expected to present his recommendations in the next week or so to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.1

    In other developments, four NATO troops have been killed by a bomb explosion in Eastern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has said. This was the deadliest day for NATO-led troops since 26 May, when a total of nine US troops were killed in three incidents.2 While, a NATO helicopter crashed in the eastern province of Khost in Afghanistan on Sunday which killed two people. The cause of the crash is being investigated. Officials have reported no insurgent activities in the area at the time of crash. The coalition declined to release other details about the crash, including the nationalities of those killed.3

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