Italy hasn't yet decided to pull out troops from war-torn Afghanistan

Italian Defence Minister Elizabetta Trenta has not yet decided to pull out the country's troops from war-torn Afghanistan, officials said after reports that the withdrawal could take place within a year. "At the moment no decision has been made, only an evaluation by the minister," said the officials of the League Party, which governs Italy in coalition with the populist Five-Star Movement.

"We'll do what we need to do to bring peace and stability back to the country," they added. Earlier on Monday, Defence Ministry officials said that Trenta had asked an inter-force committee to look at a plan to withdraw approximately 900 Italian soldiers from Afghanistan and that the timescale "could be 12 months".

(With inputs from agencies.)