Afghan President Hamid Karzai has long had a shaky relationship with the United States. What once was a strong partnership between the US and the Afghanistan government has eroded over the years.
As violence has engulfed his country for more than a decade, Karzai has become increasingly hostile to the American forces that occupy his country. Not long ago, the Afghan President went so far as to blame the US and Nato for the instability that plagues his country.
Al Jazeera is now reporting that Karzai has expelled American special forces from the Maidan Wardak province. This province is considered a key area of the country tactically when it comes to the fight against the Taliban. Karzai has reportedly given US special forces two weeks to completely withdraw from the area.
The driving force behind this move is Karzai’s belief that the US is furthering instability, particularly in this region. The Afghanistan government has accused special forces of “misconduct” that includes beheading a student and making nine local citizens go missing.
Reuters points out that Karzai has long warned that the continued killing of civilians would weaken his desire to keep US forces in country. Karzai has previously spoken out against drone strikes in the country and even signed a specific ban against Nato airstrikes.
That airstrike ban was in direct response to a mission in a civilian neighborhood that was aimed at four Taliban operatives. The airstrikes that were called in ended up killing 10 civilians, half of which were reported to be children.
The Afghanistan government believes that United States military personnel are doing themselves no favors with their recent actions. Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said that the actions of the US forces are breeding anger and frustration among the Afghanistan populace.
Karzai has said that the ministry of defense has been assigned to make sure that US forces are out of the Wardak Province by the deadline.