New Zealand Prime Minister John Key formally announced that his country will withdraw all soldiers from Afghanistan by the end of April 2013.

The withdrawal date is at least five months earlier than expected.

New Zealand has had around 145 soldiers in Afghanistan since 2003, most of them based in Bamyan province.

It comes as last month five New Zealand soldiers were killed in two incidents in Bamyan province.

The incidents happened near the town of Do Abe in Bamyan while the soldiers were coming to the aid of local security forces who had come under attack.

Three soldiers were killed in the explosion from an improvised explosive device while travelling in a convoy on August 19.

The blast happened near the town of Do Abe of Bamyan as they were on their way to assist local security forces who had come under attack.

The other two soldiers were killed a week before that incident in a clash with insurgents.

New Zealand lost five soldiers in a week - one half of their total 10 troop deaths in the Afghan war.

The New Zealand Ministr of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully on Monday said that his country needs to remove its planes before a planned upgrade of the Bamyan airport.