Hollande: France to withdraw troops from Afghanistan!

François Hollande, reaffirmed on Friday during a visit to Kabul that France will withdraw 2,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012. He spoke after meeting with French troops stationed there and holding talks with the country's president, Hamid Karzai.

Giving a joint news conference with Karzai, Hollande said he had come to tell French troops that "their task has come to an end in Afghanistan." But he also stressed France's ongoing cooperation with Afghanistan, saying he and Karzai had discussed details of their nations' strategic partnership agreement.

"After 10 years of European military engagement in Afghanistan, now Afghan security forces are taking the responsibility of their own security, and it is time for us to leave," Hollande said.

"But our cooperation and relationship will not end. In January this year, Afghanistan and France signed the strategic partnership agreement, and based on that, we will be increasing our assistance in other fields. "After the end of this year, our military trainers and mentors will remain to help Afghan security forces. As President Karzai emphasized, we will be focusing on the health sector, education, civil services, agriculture sector, energy and water and many more. We will also be helping in the economic sector."