U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2011: Obama

WEST POINT, the United States, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- In a long-anticipated speech on new strategy for Afghanistan, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the U.S. army troops will withdraw from Afghanistan in July of 2011.

Speaking at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, President Obama announced the deployment of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and the acceleration of security responsibility transfer from U.S. forces to Afghans.

The president also called on all U.S. allies, especially the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to offer their firm support for the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan to successfully dismantle, disrupt and destroy the al-Qaeda network.

"Taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011," said Obama.

"Just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, ... we will continue to advise and assist Afghanistan's Security Forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul. But it will be clear to the Afghan government -- and, more importantly, to the Afghan people -- that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country," said the president.

Obama had ordered to send 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in March and U.S. troop levels there has grown to 68,000. However, as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates, Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has been calling for 40,000 more troops since August to quell the insurgency led by the Taliban.