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Karzai hits out at allies
Afghan President Hamid Karzai renewed criticism of US and Nato-led forces on Wednesday and said he was determined his government would take a stronger role in the deployment and work of foreign troops.Last month, Karzai's government presented a draft proposal to Nato with a list of measures aimed at preventing civilian casualties, including a demand that arrests of all Afghan nationals be made by Afghan security forces only and that there be "high-level" co-ordination of air strikes. "Our demands are clear and they are that house searches of Afghans, arrests of Afghans and civilian casualties must cease. And they (US and Nato countries) are naturally putting on pressure to make us silent and retract from this claim. This is not possible," Karzai said. Taliban attacks rose by 33 percent last year, according to Nato-led forces in Afghanistan, with casualties among foreign soldiers, Afghan forces and civilians alike, all up from 2007. Posted by: Fred 2009-02-05 |
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