US Afghan campaign reels from twin blows
Source: Agencies |
March 16, 2012, Friday
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THE United States campaign in Afghanistan suffered a double blow yesterday when the Taliban broke off peace talks and President Hamid Karzai demanded NATO troops immediately pull out of rural areas because of anger over a US soldier's alleged killings of 16 civilians.
The setbacks effectively paralyze the two main tracks for ending the 10-year-old war. Part of that exit strategy is to gradually transfer authority to Afghan forces while another tack is to pull the Taliban into some sort of political discussions with the Afghan government.
Karzai also said he now wants Afghan forces to take the lead for countrywide security in 2013, a year ahead of schedule. He spoke as Afghan lawmakers were expressing outrage that the US flew the soldier suspected in the civilian killings to Kuwait on Wednesday night when they were demanding he be tried in the country.
"Afghan security forces have the ability to keep the security in rural areas and in villages on their own," Karzai said in a statement after meeting visiting US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. He said he had conveyed his demand to Panetta during their meeting in Kabul.
The soldier, who has not been named, is accused of going on a shooting rampage in villages near his base in southern Afghanistan last Sunday, killing nine children and seven other civilians, and then burning some of their bodies.
Karzai told Panetta that the weekend shootings in southern Afghanistan were cruel and that everything must be done to prevent any such incidents in the future. He said that was the reason he was demanding the pullout from rural areas now and early transfer of security.
US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron said in Washington on Wednesday they and their NATO allies were committed to shifting to a support role in Afghanistan in 2013. Obama gave his fullest backing yet for the mission shift, but said the overall plan to gradually withdraw forces and hand over security in Afghanistan will stand.
The call for an immediate exit from rural areas is a new demand, however, and it's unclear how it will affect the transition plan and ongoing talks on how to manage a long-term US military presence in the country.
The Taliban said it was calling off talks with the US because the US kept changing the terms of negotiations. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgent group wanted to limit talks to prisoner exchanges and the establishment of a political office in Qatar, but American negotiators wanted to broaden the discussion.
The Taliban said US officials have recently made new demands in the talks, but did not specify what they were.
The setbacks effectively paralyze the two main tracks for ending the 10-year-old war. Part of that exit strategy is to gradually transfer authority to Afghan forces while another tack is to pull the Taliban into some sort of political discussions with the Afghan government.
Karzai also said he now wants Afghan forces to take the lead for countrywide security in 2013, a year ahead of schedule. He spoke as Afghan lawmakers were expressing outrage that the US flew the soldier suspected in the civilian killings to Kuwait on Wednesday night when they were demanding he be tried in the country.
"Afghan security forces have the ability to keep the security in rural areas and in villages on their own," Karzai said in a statement after meeting visiting US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. He said he had conveyed his demand to Panetta during their meeting in Kabul.
The soldier, who has not been named, is accused of going on a shooting rampage in villages near his base in southern Afghanistan last Sunday, killing nine children and seven other civilians, and then burning some of their bodies.
Karzai told Panetta that the weekend shootings in southern Afghanistan were cruel and that everything must be done to prevent any such incidents in the future. He said that was the reason he was demanding the pullout from rural areas now and early transfer of security.
US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron said in Washington on Wednesday they and their NATO allies were committed to shifting to a support role in Afghanistan in 2013. Obama gave his fullest backing yet for the mission shift, but said the overall plan to gradually withdraw forces and hand over security in Afghanistan will stand.
The call for an immediate exit from rural areas is a new demand, however, and it's unclear how it will affect the transition plan and ongoing talks on how to manage a long-term US military presence in the country.
The Taliban said it was calling off talks with the US because the US kept changing the terms of negotiations. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgent group wanted to limit talks to prisoner exchanges and the establishment of a political office in Qatar, but American negotiators wanted to broaden the discussion.
The Taliban said US officials have recently made new demands in the talks, but did not specify what they were.
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