US agrees to limit troops in Pakistan: official

WASHINGTON: The United States has agreed to scale back the number of American troops stationed in Pakistan amid tense relations with Islamabad, a US official said Wednesday.

"There have been discussions for some time for the future footprint of US military personnel in Pakistan," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

Instead of the roughly 300 US troops that have been deployed in Pakistan, the contingent would be cut roughly in half to "between 100 and 150," the official said.

Under the agreement, the number of elite special operations forces training Pakistani troops to take on militants would be dramatically reduced, the official said.

"The training footprint will be much more limited," the official said.

The deal could leave in place as few as a dozen special operators, instead of the roughly 140 now in Pakistan.

The US official said the agreement on troop numbers was "not at all a signal of a breach of the partnership."

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011