He added: "There is now a large Afghan army which is getting into better shape -- it needs to be much bigger and better yet, but that can be done, I believe in the next four years."

Hague was speaking after a conference in Kabul, the Afghanistan capital, at which Afghan President Hamed Karzai revealed that foreign troops in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force could be out of Afghanistan by 2014, because Afghan troops would be capable of handling their own security.

Karzai committed himself to this goal.

Hague was also following policy already established by new Prime Minister David Cameron when he spoke at the G8 and G20 summits in Canada late last month. Cameron said that he wanted British combat troops home from Afghanistan within five years.

Britain recently committed a further 300 troops to Afghanistan, bringing the total up to 10,000, the second largest foreign force behind the United States.

A total of 322 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan, with many deaths coming over the past four years since the British moved into the southern Helmand province to take on the Taliban with a force of 3,300 troops.

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