Karzai challenges coalition

PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai has challenged the need for major foreign military operations in Afghanistan, saying air strikes are no longer effective and that US-led coalition forces should focus on rooting out terror bases and support networks.

His call for a new approach to tackling militants came despite the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan since US-led forces invaded in late 2001, with more than 1,200 people killed in the six months leading up to Sunday’s historic legislative elections.

Karzai demanded an immediate end to foreign troops searching people’s homes without his government’s authorisation. He also said foreign governments should “concentrate on where terrorists are trained, on their bases, on the supply to them, on the money coming to them” - a veiled reference to support militants allegedly get from neighbouring Pakistan.