Foreign forces must leave Afghan villages: Karzai

Press TV: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on US and NATO troops to immediately leave the country, saying security transition to local forces should take place as soon as possible.

"We are working to make this transition of security happen sooner. We want all the foreign forces to come out of the villages and go to their bases so the Afghan forces can carry out the security," said Karzai during a Saturday conference on Afghan foreign policy strategy in Kabul.

"I'm completely sure that the withdrawal of international forces in 2014 will give us more opportunity to provide more security,” he added.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on of terror.
The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but the country is still plagued with insecurity.

Foreign forces are scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and hand over responsibility for the country’s security to the Afghan government. The US intends to maintain some forces in Afghanistan for “training and counter-terrorism operations.

"From our vision, the fight against terrorism is not in Afghanistan …That is why we do not want military operations in our villages, in our houses," the Afghan president said.

"We are the owners of this country. We should really show that we are the owners of this country,” Karzai added. Source