Gen David Petraeus said the Taliban had been pressed back in southern Afghanistan and in Kabul following a surge in coalition troops, London's Telegraph reports.

But he said there should not be a sudden exodus of troops from Afghanistan when the process of withdrawing forces begins next year.

"The momentum that the Taliban have established over the course of recent years has been reversed in many of the areas of the country and will be reversed in the other areas as well," he said in an interview with the BBC.

Gen Petraeus, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, said he would offer frank advice to President Barack Obama on the withdrawal of troops.

Next July would mark the start of a drawdown, but not the moment when the US military looks "for the exit and a light to turn out", he said in the interview, which was broadcast on Monday.


Read the entire story at telegraph.co.uk