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US President Barack Obama is addressing the US public live from a military base in Afghanistan on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death.
In excerpts released ahead of the speech, he hailed the approaching end of the war and thanked US troops.
Mr Obama arrived in Afghanistan on a surprise visit to sign an agreement on future Afghan-US ties with President Hamid Karzai, ahead of a Nato summit.
At the signing, Mr Obama said it was "a historic moment" for both nations.
Mr Obama's address comes as public patience with the war in Afghanistan is wearing thin.
In the prime-time speech, the US president will say that at the upcoming Nato summit, to be held in Chicago, the alliance will "set a goal for Afghan forces to be in the lead for combat operations across the country next year".
About 23,000 of the 88,000 US troops currently in the country are expected to leave Afghanistan by the summer, with all US and Nato troops out by the end of 2014.
"My fellow Americans, we have travelled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon," Mr Obama will say in the speech.
"The Iraq war is over. The number of our troops in harm's way has been cut in half, and more will be coming home soon. We have a clear path to fulfil our mission in Afghanistan, while delivering justice to al-Qaeda."
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