WASHINGTON, Dec 20: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered a cut in the number of American troops in Afghanistan to about 16,500 from the current 19,000 by next spring, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

The reduction was prompted by a planned NATO increase in its peacekeeping force in Afghanistan next year and the growing size of the Afghan army and police force, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita told reporters.

The Defence Department said the orders, signed by Mr Rumsfeld on Monday, mean that more than half of the 4,000 troops from the Louisiana-based Fourth Brigade of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division will not be sent to Afghanistan in March on rotation as previously scheduled.

The move comes as the Pentagon is also considering when to begin reducing the US military presence in Iraq below a ‘baseline’ level of 138,000, expected to be reached by early February. There are now about 150,000 US troops in the country in a force built up recently to help provide security for last week’s election.

President George Bush and Mr Rumsfeld are under mounting pressure from some members of Congress to begin reducing the Iraq force amid Americans’ waning public support for the war.

Mr Rumsfeld gave the Afghan order on a recommendation from the senior US commander there, Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry, in large measure because NATO is increasing its international security assistance peacekeeping force, or ISAF, in the country, Di Rita said.

Pentagon officials said 1,300 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division brigade would be sent to Afghanistan as scheduled, but that about 2,700 others would instead remain in Louisiana on standby.

“The overall level of Afghan and coalition security forces in the country is growing,” Di Rita said. “They (Afghan troops and police) are seen as an increasing factor in the country.”

He said that the 10th Mountain Division troops will not replace returning members of the Airborne Brigade now stationed in southern Afghanistan. But elements of the mountain division who do not go will remain prepared to deploy within 15 days if necessary.

The American troop reduction has been anticipated since NATO agreed to assume control of an American command in volatile southern Afghanistan next year. The Atlantic alliance is looking to raise its 9,000-strong ISAF force to about 15,000 troops from early next year.

DUTCH DECISION: In The Hague, the Dutch cabinet on Monday delayed a decision to send an extra 1,100 to 1,300 troops to Afghanistan as part of the NATO buildup. There are already some 600 Dutch troops serving there.