Karzai Urges Closer Military Coordination

Afghan President Hamid Karzai called Thursday for US-led foreign troops to coordinate more closely with the Afghan military on operations, just days ahead of a key trip to Washington.

Karzai, who will next week hold talks with US President Barack Obama in the wake of a damaging row between the two leaders, told his security chiefs closer coordination was vital in the struggle against a worsening Taliban insurgency.

"The president emphasised the importance of coordination between Afghan and international forces," Karzai's office said in a statement.

"The president said the proposals already presented to the international community by the Afghan government on reform of security and operational strategies... would make the struggle against terrorism more effective."

The Western-backed leader has repeatedly called for the 130,000 US-led international forces fighting in Afghanistan to coordinate their military activities with Afghan soldiers to avoid civilian casualties.

Civilians are often caught up in the conflict, and Karzai argues that the focus of military operations against the Taliban should switch from villages in Afghanistan to militant hubs in neighbouring Pakistan.

The timing of his latest statement will be seen as significant, coming three days before he is due to fly to Washington for crucial talks ahead of a planned military push in Kandahar -- the heartland of the Taliban insurgency.

Karzai's spokesman said this week he hoped the trip would "lead to changes in the strategy of the war against terrorism," an apparent reference to domestic concerns about civilian deaths at the hands of foreign forces.

The Afghan leader will also seek reassurances of US support during his talks with Obama -- the first since his claim that the election returning him to power was manipulated by foreign governments raised consternation in the West.

Discussions between the two leaders will reportedly include a radical peace and reintegration programme to be presented to tribal leaders at a conference or "jirga" of Afghan community leaders later this month.

Britain's Guardian newspaper said Karzai would seek US backing ahead of the jirga for the plan, which included a proposal to offer top Taliban leaders exile if they agreed to stop fighting against the government.

Karzai has long been keen to hold talks with top Taliban leaders in an effort to quell the nearly nine-year insurgency that is crippling his country.

But the Obama administration is said to favour reconciliation efforts only after the military push in Kandahar, which it hopes will weaken the Taliban insurgency.

Obama is deploying reinforcements in Afghanistan in an effort to end the war, claiming record fatalities among the foreign troops in the country.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force on Thursday announced the death of another soldier in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan, taking the death toll for the year to date to 182.

In 2009, 520 foreign soldiers lost their lives in the violence, making it the deadliest year since the Taliban regime was overthrown in a US-led invasion in late 2001.