Afghan leader orders US special forces out of province

Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered US special forces out of a strategically important province Sunday due to allegations that Afghans working with them tortured and murdered innocent people, officials said. Karzai demanded their withdrawal from Wardak, a hotbed of Taliban activity southwest of Kabul, within two weeks as armed groups working with them were causing resentment. It is the latest sign of deteriorating ties between Kabul and Washington and came around a week after the Afghan president ordered an end to local security forces calling in NATO air strikes amid concern over civilian casualties. A US forces spokesman said all allegations of misconduct were treated seriously but did not comment on the order for special forces to leave Wardak. Karzai took the decision about the central province, which is close to the capital and criss-crossed by important roads, in a meeting of the national security council, said presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi. Armed groups of Afghans, who are working with the special forces, were causing trouble in the province, he told a press conference. A statement from the presidential office said that armed individuals "engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people". "The Ministry of Defence was assigned to make sure all US special forces are out of the province within two weeks," it said. The statement cited a recent example in which nine people disappeared in an operation conducted by what it called the "suspicious force". In another incident, a student was taken away at night from his home, and his tortured body was found with its throat cut two days later under a bridge, the statement said. "However, Americans reject having conducted any such operation and any involvement of their special force," the statement said. It added the actions had "caused local public resentment and hatred". A spokesman for the US military in Afghanistan said: "We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them. "Until we have had a chance to speak with senior (Afghan) officials about this issue we are not in a position to comment further. This is an important issue that we intend to fully discuss with our Afghan counterparts." On February 16, Karzai issued an order banning Afghan security forces from seeking NATO air support after a NATO air raid killed 10 civilians including women and children in eastern Afghanistan several days earlier. The commander of US-led forces in Afghanistan has said he would comply with the order. Air strikes have been an important weapon in the fight against Taliban insurgents, but they have also proved hugely controversial as they have led to numerous civilian deaths. Tensions have been escalating between Afghanistan and the United States, which provides most of the troops in the war-torn country, as the bulk of NATO's 100,000 soldiers prepare to leave by the end of 2014. More than 3,200 NATO troops, mostly Americans, have died in support of Karzai's government in the war since the Taliban were ousted by a US invasion in 2001.