Cameron under pressure as US steps up Afghanistan exit plan

Varying reports say that President Barack Obama is expected to announce the withdrawal of between 5,000 to 10,000 American troops this year, with half that number leaving next month, and half in the winter.

And other reports suggest that Mr Obama is set to commit to removing the remainder of the 20,000 to 30,000 extra “surge” troops by the end of 2012.

The path to ending the US’s fighting role by 2015 will be set out in a televised presidential address from the White House early on Thursday morning.

Military commanders on both sides of the Atlantic have suggested that they want the timetable for extracting forces to be slower.

But Mr Cameron has repeatedly said that there would be no movement from Britain’s 2015 deadline. “The deadline is a deadline, and it won’t slip because I’m very clear that the British people deserve to have a clear end point,” he said.

Mr Cameron has said that 450 British personnel will leave Afghanistan this summer, but there have been widespread calls for that number to be increased.

And Britain’s top soldier General Sir Peter Wall stressed that the Army was “committed” to the 2015 deadline for ceasing combat operations.

But he added that “whether or not it turns out to be an absolute timeline or more conditions-based approach nearer the time, we shall find out”.

Mr Cameron’s spokesman confirmed there had been “conversations” with the US over Mr Obama’s address.