Afghan President Hamid Karzai has once again delivered a warning to NATO in the wake of deadly NATO air strikes over the weekend, cautioning that the alliance must stop bombing civilian homes in Afghanistan.
NATO, for its part, spurned the demand, saying that attacking Afghan homes was “necessary” and would continue going forward. They also claimed that the Afghan government has no right under the UN mandate for Afghanistan to forbid attacks on civilian targets.
Former Afghan General Helauddin Helal concurred with this, saying it was “not realistic” for Karzai to demand the end such attacks, saying that the UN mandate gave the troops the right to “conduct any kind of attack.”
Karzai warned that the continuation of such attacks would put NATO at the risk of being “viewed as an occupying force.” This is perhaps the least of NATO’s concerns, particularly a decade into the occupation of Afghanistan, but points to a growing discontent at the way they carry on this occupation.
