The US will seek to wind down combat operations in Afghanistan during 2013, more than a year before a deadline for withdrawal, the defence secretary says. Speaking while travelling to a Nato summit, Leon Panetta said the US hoped to switch to a role training and supporting Afghan forces, the  Telegraph writes.

It is the most detailed public indication of when US troops might pull back from America's longest war.

Some 68,000 troops are due to remain in Afghanistan after the end of 2012.

There are currently some 99,000 US troops in the country, with 22,000 scheduled to return home during this year.

Until now, though, there had been little information how the Pentagon planned to manage the main bulk of the drawdown, committing only to a full withdrawal of troops by the end of 2014.

"Hopefully by mid- to the latter part of 2013 we'll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advice and assist role," Mr Panetta said en route to Brussels, site of the Nato summit.

It's clearly an aspiration, but this is the first time anyone has spoken of a significant shift of emphasis as early as 2013.

As such, it's a clear indication of the Obama administration's desire to reduce its military footprint in Afghanistan as early as possible.

For the president, looking to be re-elected at the end of this year, it's also useful. Barack Obama has already ended one American war, in Iraq. Now he's thinking about when and how to end another.
Senior military figures have previously stated that the US mission will change from combat operations to training and assistance, but correspondents say Afghans taking the lead is unlikely to mean that US forces will cease patrols.

"It's still a pretty robust role that we'll be engaged in. It's not going to be a kind of formal combat role that we are now," he said. "That doesn't mean that we're not going to be combat-ready. We will be because we always have to be in order to defend ourselves."