U.S. to start NATO talks on Afghan transition:Petraeus

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (R) is greeted by U.S. General David Petraeus, Commander of ISAF, as he arrives during a surprise visit in Kabul September 2, 2010.

KABUL (Reuters) - The United States will start preliminary talks with its allies in Afghanistan soon on next year's planned "transition," expected to include withdrawal of some U.S. forces, the top NATO commander in the country said on Thursday.

General David Petraeus said he would discuss in mid-September an initial assessment with allies based on input from low-level military commanders and their Afghan counterparts. This would be continuously updated in the run-up to a NATO summit in Lisbon in November.

NATO allies, which are increasingly uneasy about the unpopular, nine-year-old war, are eager to shift security responsibilities to Afghan forces.

That could free up some troops to go home or be sent elsewhere to take up the fight against the Taliban.

"Middle of the month, we'll discuss our first, our very initial assessment for the prospects of transition," Petraeus told reporters in Kabul.

"That's what we'll be refining between now and the Lisbon summit. And what we'll try to do is provide a measured projection of what will likely be possible in terms of transition in the new year."

It was unclear what level of detail would be presented at the conference in Lisbon, which also precedes a White House review of the Afghan war strategy in December.

RISING CASUALTIES

Critics say U.S. President Barack Obama's strategy to begin pulling out troops in July 2011 has backfired. They say it has sent a signal to the Taliban that Washington is preparing to wind down while U.S. and NATO forces are suffering record casualties.

Almost 150,000 foreign troops are in Afghanistan after Obama ordered last year another 30,000 troops to turn the tide against a resurgent Taliban. The last of those troops arrived this week.

More than 2,060 foreign troops, more than 60 percent of them American, have died in the country since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in late 2001. About half of those casualties were suffered in 2009 and 2010.

Petraeus announced earlier this week that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan will begin with a general "thinning out" of forces rather than any big drawdown.

Some troops in areas where Afghan forces are taking over control of security will go home, while others will be redeployed in nearby districts, Petraeus said.

Any withdrawal will be based on conditions on the ground, mainly security and the readiness of Afghan forces.

"We are trying to operationalize these (guidelines) if you will, to take these and now apply them to the circumstances on the ground, commanders are providing input. Still very early days, very initial assessments."

Asked whether the transition might come before the end of the year, he declined comment, saying: "We'll see what we recommend when the time comes."

Afghanistan has set a target of 2014 for the country to take over complete security responsibility from NATO and the United States, which is raising efforts to train the Afghan army and police.

A growing number of NATO nations are setting target dates for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, reflecting domestic unease over the rising death toll in the war. The Netherlands began pulling its 2,000 troops out of Afghanistan on August 1.

(Editing by Paul Tait and David Stamp)