About 650 American soldiers left Afghanistan this week, the first group of 10,000 US troops to be withdrawn from the country by the end of the year.
Military officials confirmed yesterday that 650 troops serving in the northern Afghan province of Parwan left for the United States Wednesday.
The officials said the soldiers will not be replaced by another unit.
President Obama announced last month that 33,000 American forces would leave Afghanistan by September 2012, ending a troop surge that he ordered in 2009.
The remainder of the 100,000 US troops serving in Afghanistan are expected to return home by the end of 2014.
With a trillion dollars spent on wars in the last decade, Obama said in a speech last month it was time to focus on “nation-building at home.”