Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned a NATO operation that he said killed four children in the country's east, a claim the coalition said was possible.
The Obama administration does not rule out a complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan after 2014, the White House said today, just days before President Barack Obama is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
President Barack Obama telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday to express his "shock and sadness" over the reported killing of Afghan civilians by a US soldier, the White House said.
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai called for NATO troops to leave Afghan villages after 16 civilians died in a shooting rampage by a US soldier, underscoring Afghan fury over the massacre and clouding US exit plans.
US President Barack Obama made a speedy, unannounced trip to Afghanistan to sign a strategic pact with Kabul and send a dual election-year message that the United States is winding down the Afghan war but not abandoning the country.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that Afghanistan will only sign a long-term "strategic partnership" deal with Washington if the United States meets Afghan conditions including an end to controversial night raids on homes.
The head of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who had been tasked with trying to negotiate a political end to the war, was killed at his home, a senior police officer said.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched towards the palace of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul as a fourth day of protests erupted over the burning of Korans at a NATO base, with riot police and soldiers on high alert.