LONDON - The international coalition in Afghanistan and his own government have failed 'terribly' in their goal to bring security to Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai admitted Friday.
'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,' Karzai said in an interview with the BBC.
'What we should do is provide better and a more predictable environment of security to the Afghan citizens and in that the international community and the Afghan government definitely have failed.'

He also repeated his accusations against Pakistan for supporting the insurgency, and said the NATO-led coalition should have focused its strategy much earlier on Taliban 'sanctuaries' in Pakistan's volatile tribal areas.

'NATO and the US and our neighbors in Pakistan should have concentrated a long time back, in the beginning of 2002-3, on the (Taliban) sanctuaries,' said Karzai.

'On the overall policy of Pakistan toward Afghanistan and towards the Taliban, definitely, the Taliban will not be able to move a finger without Pakistani support,' said Karzai.

He acknowledged that the Pakistani leadership was keen to have good relations with Afghanistan, but added that 'Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan will not go away unless the government there co-operates with the Afghan administration. (DPA)