British Armed Forces Minister, Bob Ainsworth, has said the troop presence in Northern Ireland is to be scaled back further.
Mr Ainsworth said the downgrading at the end of the month will end the British armed forces' longest deployment.
In a statement to MPs at Westminster, Mr Ainsworth said that from 1 August troop levels in Northern Ireland will be similar to those elsewhere in the UK, at fewer than 5,000 troops.
Last June British soldiers left the last British army base in the border region of south Armagh at Bessbrook.
