INCIDENTS of violence in Afghanistan have been on the rise since the United States-led Nato forces have started killing … innocent citizens of the country. The incidents pertaining to disgracing bodies and later burning copies of the Holy Quran have further instigated the public, and [the people’s animosity towards] foreign troops is increasing with each passing day.

Owing to these incidents, now the local [Afghan] forces are also bent upon killing the personnel of foreign forces whenever they get the chance…. During the past few weeks several such incidents have taken place…. Keeping in view these incidents now the Afghan forces are … forcing the government to take a stand on the issue.

Similarly … Hamid Karzai has also raised the demand that US and Nato forces should leave his country as soon as possible and hand over charge to local forces so that they can take steps for the restoration of peace in their respective provinces. Civilians have also been holding protest demonstrations in different regions of Afghanistan.... The people are of the view that the US-led Nato forces had entered Afghanistan to … eradicate terrorism and restore peace … but now they were busy killing innocent citizens….

The Nato forces have been facing a tough time from the Taliban but … the forces are unable to overcome their enemies [and are] killing innocent people in public places. The situation is going from bad to worse … but the Nato forces do not seem [to be able] to bring any change in the polices…. There is no doubt that if the US does not change its policies … its fate will not be different from that of the former Soviet Union.

In fact, the US is trying to … withdraw its forces but at the same time it also wishes to maintain its influence in the country even after 2014. The US officials have … expressed the view that they want to leave the country by handing over charge to the local forces but the commitment is yet to materialise. These problems are difficult to solve unless local people are taken into confidence at the time of taking any decision.— (May 9)

Selected and translated by Ali Hazrat Bacha.