Australia to withdraw troops from Afghanistan a year before

The majority of Australian soldiers will be withdrawn from Afghanistan next year, after significant security gains in the country over the past year and a half.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is expected to take her pull-out timetable to a NATO summit in Chicago next month. Her announcement comes a day ahead of a NATO meeting in Brussels, discussing troop withdrawals.

"I'm now confident that Chicago will recognise mid-2013 as a key milestone in the international strategy," Gillard said.

Australia has some 1,550 troops stationed. It has lost 32 soldiers in the conflict.

Gillard said they would begin leaving as soon as Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared Afghans would take responsibility for Uruzgan province, where most Australian forces are based.

"And when this is complete, Australia's commitment in Afghanistan will look very different to that we have today," she said. "We will have completed our training and mentoring mission with the 4th Brigade. We will no longer be conducting routine frontline operations with the Afghan National Security Forces. The Australian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team will have completed its work."