US President Barack Obama spoke to his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, three days after a deadly NATO airstrike killed 11 Afghan children and women.
US President Barack Obama spoke to his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, three days after a deadly NATO airstrike killed 11 Afghan children and women.
US officials said the call was a regular consultation between the two leaders.
The White house announced the conversation in a statement, but without saying whether Obama mentio
ned the strike, which caused the latest of a string of civilian losses that have greatly angered Karzai and tested his relations with Washington.
The statement said that Obama and Karzai discussed the security transition from NATO to Afghan forces and Afghan-led peace and recognition efforts.
"President Karzai affirmed his support for an inclusive process of preparing for Afghanistan's 2014 elections, and the leaders noted that free, fair, and credible elections would be critical to Afghanistan's future and continued international support," the statement added.
Obama praised Karzai's recent talks with the emir of Qatar on the possibility of opening a Taliban office in the Gulf state to further Afghan reconciliation efforts.
Karzai meanwhile said that he welcomed the handover last month of the Bagram prison to Afghan control. The jail had been a frequent irritant between Washington and Kabul.
"The leaders committed that their teams would continue to keep dangerous detainees off the battlefield and work in partnership at the facility, consistent with Afghan sovereignty."
The call between Obama and Karzai came after the Afghan leader on Sunday strongly condemned the NATO strike in Kunar province bordering Pakistan that Afghan officials said killed 11 children.
After an air strike in February killed 10 civilians, mostly women and children, Karzai banned Afghan security forces from calling in NATO air strikes.
