KABUL: President Hamid Karzai said yesterday that airstrikes carried out in Afghan villages by US and NATO troops are only killing civilians and that the international community should instead go after terror centers in Pakistan.
Speaking under a tree on the grounds of the presidential palace, Karzai said the international community should take its fight across the border into Pakistan, where militants find safe havens in Pakistan’s tribal region.
“The struggle against terrorism is not in the villages of Afghanistan,” Karzai said. “The only result of the use of airstrikes is the killing of civilians. This is not the way to wage the fight against terrorism.” Afghan officials say US or NATO airstrikes killed dozens of civilians in two incidents last month, including 47 people who were killed while walking to a wedding in the eastern province of Nangarhar on July 6.
Karzai’s criticism of US and NATO airstrikes comes at a time when he appears to be making an increasing number of nationalistic appeals ahead of next year’s presidential election. Karzai has indicated he plans to run. However, Karzai’s call for military action in Pakistan echoes the views of top NATO military leaders, who say that militants train, recruit and rearm in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
