LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron has welcomed US President Barack Obama's announcement that US troop levels in Afghanistan will be reduced by 33,000 by September next year.

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In a statement released Thursday by his office, Cameron said: "The surge by the US and international partners, supported by an increase in the number of Afghan army and police, has reversed the momentum of the insurgency and created the right conditions for security responsibility to begin to transfer to the Afghans from July."

Cameron repeated his pledge to withdraw all British troops from combat roles in Afghanistan by 2015.