Credit/Source: The Express Tribune: 7 October 2011

(Earthquake 2005) Demonstrators fly a giant kite near the House of Commons in central London, as they mark the anniversary of military intervention in Afghanistan. PHOTO: AFP

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai was in a candid mood ten years after the US launched ground and air strikes to oust the Taliban from his country. In his first interview with the foreign media for several months, Karzai admitted that his government and the US-led Nato mission have failed in Afghanistan to deliver the most basic duty of government: security for its citizens.

US President Barack Obama chose instead to honour those killed in the decade-long war, and saluted those who have served in the US military. He added that the US was “responsibly ending today’s wars from a position of strength”, though he warned that “enormous challenges” remained in Afghanistan.

“In Afghanistan and beyond, we have shown that the United States is not and never will be at war with Islam and that we are a partner with those who seek justice, dignity and opportunity,” said Obama.

(Read: Afghan war anniversary – 10 years on, the answers are blowing in the wind)

The president also claimed the US was “closer than ever to defeating Al-Qaeda and its murderous network” after the killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Karzai admits failure to give Afghans security

“We’ve done terribly badly in providing security to the Afghan people and this is the greatest shortcoming of our government and of our international partners,” President Karzai said in an audio clip of an interview released by the BBC.

Read more: