French President Francois Hollande for the first time has provided details of his plan to pull France's combat troops out of Afghanistan by the end of this year (2012), saying he would leave around 1,400 soldiers behind to help with training and logistics. The new French leader, making good on one of the major foreign-policy promises of his campaign, confirmed in a one-day visit to Afghanistan on Friday that all of France's 2,000 combat troops would be brought home by the end of this year, according to a report of the Associated Press. "The time for Afghan sovereignty has come," Hollande said during a meeting with French troops at a base in Kapisa province's Nijrab district. "The terrorist threat that targeted our territory, while it hasn't totally disappeared, is in part lessened." Hollande, who took office last week, said that after more than a decade in Afghanistan, French combat troops had carried out their mission and it was time for them to leave in an early pullout coordinated with the United States and other allies. He said some trainers would remain to help Afghanistan's nascent security forces. NATO has set a pullout date of 2014, when Afghan troops are to take over security control. The French leader met with troops and discussed the withdrawal plans with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
