Karzai calls for ‘terror’ focus outside Afghanistan

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday the US-led "war on terror" should be directed at terror sanctuaries outside his country which he said was not a "hideout for terrorism" but a victim.
Karzai's comments to media come days after the Pentagon said the US military and its NATO allies were reviewing plans for the troubled nation, where violence from a Taliban-led insurgency has soared in recent years.
The president told a press briefing to mark the first day of Eidul Azha that for almost three years he had called for the international community to "revise their strategy in the war on terrorism."
"Their presence in Afghanistan must be against terrorism which has hideouts that are outside (of Afghanistan), its training and support bases that are outside," he said.
There are more than 60,000 international troops helping the Afghan government to battle Taliban and other insurgents and to train up its own forces and establish its authority across the fractured country.
The foreign troops are not allowed to conduct their operations outside Afghanistan even though it is acknowledged that many militants are trained in extremist sanctuaries in neighbouring Pakistan.
Karzai has argued that the intense fighting here exacts a high cost in civilian life and damage to property but does not target the roots of the problem.
"Afghanistan is not a hideout for terrorism," he said Wednesday. "It is the victim of terrorism."
Karzai also reiterated that the international forces should reduce the use of air power - said to cause the most civilian losses - as it "takes the struggle on terrorism to nowhere."
Afghanistan has seen a sharp spike in violence in the past two years, with 2007 the bloodiest since a US-led invasion toppled the brutal Taliban regime six years ago.
Karzai has this year increased his emphasis on reconciliation with Taliban fighters who accept the country's new constitution.
He repeated the message in his Eid address, particularly reaching out to Taliban forced from a key stronghold in the southern province of Helmand in a high-profile military operation last week.
"I call on Taliban brothers, the Taliban in Musa Qala, you are the sons of this land, come back to your homes and lands and live in Musa Qala and avoid war," he said.
Musa Qala was recaptured last Monday after being in Taliban control for 10 months.