KABUL, Afghanistan – The Afghan president has ordered his defense
minister to tell NATO that Afghan forces — and not the international
troops — should be the one to carry out special operations and
nighttime raids.
Hamid Karzai's announcement on
Saturday also says NATO should not proceed with any raids that have not
been coordinated with Afghan forces.
The move
is meant to assuage rising popular anger over coalition searches and
nighttime raids of homes. NATO forces have faced violent protests over
night raids on villages where they are trying to flush out insurgents.
It's unclear what immediate impact Karzai's statement will have.
NATO
says the coalition understands it "must move from Afghan participation
in night operations to Afghan forces having responsibility for night
operations."
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) — A bomb blast and a separate insurgent attack in
southern Afghanistan on Saturday have killed two NATO service members,
the coalition said.
NATO provided no further
details on the deaths, which bring to 44 the number of international
service members who have been killed this month. This year, 195
coalition troops have died in Afghanistan.
Southern and eastern Afghanistan are the country's most volatile areas.
The
recent violence is part of the Taliban spring offensive, with
stepped-up roadside bomb and suicide attacks, as well as insurgent
assaults on mountainous or rural outposts.
The
effectiveness of the Taliban campaign could affect the size of
President Barack Obama's planned drawdown of U.S. troops in July. NATO
is to hand over control of security in the country to Afghans by 2014. AP
