KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has joined with Afghan lawmakers in asking NATO and US officials to leave their military bases untouched when they withdraw from the country, the presidential office said Wednesday.

Karzai's decision came after Afghan lawmakers debated the topic in parliament on Monday, calling for the NATO to put their bases at the service of Afghan government instead of destroying them as planned.

"Our request to NATO and the international community is that when they withdraw from their military bases, they should leave them untouched and hand them over to Afghan government in order to be used for public services," deputy presidential spokesman Siyamak Herawi told TOLOnews Wednesday.

The Afghan Defense Ministry also said that having such strategic bases could be very important for Afghan security forces.

"Having operational and strategic bases would be very important for the mission of Afghan security forces," deputy spokesman of Defense Dawlat Waziri told TOLOnews.

In the parliamentary sitting session on Monday, Kabul MP Shukria Barekzai said that a contract had been signed for the bases to be destroyed by the time NATO leaves.

"Recently a contract was signed for the destruction of NATO facilities in Afghanistan. We can use these bases for schools, clinics and other administrative purposes. They have spent money constructing those bases and now they're spending more for their destruction," she said. (Tolo News)