US Defence Secretary Robert Gates says the US will definitely start reducing the number of its soldiers in Afghanistan next July. Yesterday, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, said that he might advise President Barack Obama to delay the exit plan. The Los Angeles Times quoted Mr Gates as saying, but so far there hasn't even been a discussion of a steep decline quickly at the top levels of the administration. Mr Gates played down the possibility of rapid cuts in US troop levels starting in July 2011. His comments come soon after Gen Petraeus said he would not be bound by a 2011 target date to start withdrawing US troops.President Obama set 2011 as the date to begin withdrawing forces. At the same time, he approved the deployment of 30,000 extra troops in Afghanistan.