Washington, November 15: The head of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan has criticized Afghan President Hamid Karzai for his comments on the presence of foreign troops in that country.
US Army General David Petraeus expressed his “astonishment and disappointment” with Karzai’s call to reduce the US military presence in southern Afghanistan, The Washington Post reported.
During a meeting on Sunday morning with the Afghan official Ashraf Ghani, who leads the Afghan government’s planning on transition, Petraeus made what officials described as “hypothetical” references to an inability to continue US operations in the face of Karzai’s remarks, the newspaper added.
In an interview published on Sunday, Karzai said that he wants the US military to reduce its visibility and the intensity of its operations in Afghanistan and end its night raids.
“The time has come to reduce military operations,” the Afghan president said.
“The time has come to reduce the presence of, you know, boots in Afghanistan … to reduce the intrusiveness into the daily Afghan life,” he added.
A senior official told the newspaper that it was “categorically false” to interpret Karzai’s remarks as a “vote of no-confidence in Petraeus.”
A foreign diplomat in Kabul, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Karzai’s comments at this stage undermine Petraeus’ endeavors, the Post reported.
——–Agencies