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Karzai demands NATO stop night raids

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton take part in a group photo at the conclusion of the International Conference on Afghanistan at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 20, 2010. The major international conference in Kabul called for at least 50 percent of development aid for the country to be channeled through the Afghan government's budget within two years. UPI/Hossein Fatemi
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton take part in a group photo at the conclusion of the International Conference on Afghanistan at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 20, 2010. The major international conference in Kabul called for at least 50 percent of development aid for the country to be channeled through the Afghan government's budget within two years. UPI/Hossein Fatemi | License Photo

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 28 (UPI) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday demanded an end to night raids, but NATO gave no indication it would go along with the request.

Karzai, who has increasingly denounced U.S.-led forces for civilian deaths, said only the Afghan army should conduct nighttime operations against suspected insurgents.

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A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, Maj. Sunset Belinsky, told The Washington Post NATO "fully supports President Karzai's intent to have Afghan forces increasingly in the lead for operations," but "targeted, intelligence-driven night operations … have been indispensable in arresting insurgent momentum."

Gen. Zahir Azimi of the Afghan Defense Ministry said officials would need to figure out how to carry out Karzai's instructions.

Earlier Saturday, a suicide bomber struck the governor's compound in Takhar province, killing the top police official in northern Afghanistan, Gen. Daud Daud, and at least 10 others, local officials said.

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