Poland says to halve Afghanistan troop deployment

Poland's defense minister said Wednesday that Warsaw, a major contributor of troops for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, would roughly halve its contingent to 500 soldiers by May.

Poland had previously planned to maintain 1,000 troops in Afghanistan until the end of the year as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

"In agreement with our allies, we have decided to speed up our withdrawal," Tomasz Siemoniak told reporters.

"All heavy equipment, such as armored vehicles and helicopters, will also return to Poland by May."