OTTAWA — The Defence Department says preparations have started for the withdrawal of Canadian soldiers from Afghanistan as the 2011 deadline for the pullout approaches.

The department says Chief of Defence Staff General Walter Natynczyk has ordered preparations to get under way involving the return of thousands of troops and their equipment from Afghanistan.

Parliament has mandated the military component of Canada's Afghan mission must conclude in 2011, and the Conservative government has promised to honour that deadline.

There are about 2,800 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, based primarily in the southern province of Kandahar.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay has refused to rule out the possibility that some Canadian support troops might be kept in Afghanistan after the 2011 deadline.

Many observers predict U.S. President Barack Obama will ask Prime Minister Harper to keep Canadian troops in the field to protect civilian reconstruction efforts as the American military ramps up its effort to contain the Taliban in Afghanistan.