Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday called for more international aid for the nation’s army and police, saying it would help reduce the need for NATO-led forces and lower civilian casualties.
“I call for a redoubling of efforts by the international community aimed at enabling the Afghan national security institutions, both the army and the police, to take on a greater share of the war against terrorism and the protection of our people,” Karzai told the UN General Assembly.
Most of the 70,000 international troops in Afghanistan are from the NATO alliance, which at a summit in Bucharest this year called for the “Afghanization” of the country’s security sector.
As they attempt to rein in a resurgent Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan through air strikes, foreign troops have been blamed for numerous civilian casualties.
New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that civilian deaths from international air strikes had trebled between 2006 and last year — from at least 116 in 2006 to at least 321 the following year.
There have been at least 119 civilians killed in US and NATO air strikes so far this year in Afghanistan, the group said, adding that its figures were based on conservative estimates.
“Above all, Afghanization of the military operations is vital if the problem of civilian casualties is to be addressed effectively,” Karzai said.
“The continuation of civilian casualties can seriously undermine the legitimacy of fighting terrorism and the credibility of the Afghan people’s partnership with the international community,” he warned.
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