Taleban are hindering Nato pullout says Karzai

President Hamid Karzai has said co-ordinated Taleban attacks in Kabul and three provinces had only prolonged a foreign presence in Afghanistan.

The weekend attacks on parliament and Kabul’s diplomatic quarter had caused only Afghan deaths and worked to harm the country, Mr Karzai said.

It took around 18 hours for Afghan security forces, backed by Nato troops, to kill the insurgents.

But yesterday Mr Karzai warned the Taleban: “You did nothing for Islam, you did not work for Afghanistan’s independence and you did not work for its people, freedom and development. You worked to prolong a foreign presence.”.

In a public address, he insisted he would continue to describe the Taleban as “brothers” in the hope of keeping alive attempts at reconciliation ahead of a Nato withdrawal in 2014.

He said: “Some criticise me in the Afghan media for saying the Taleban are brothers, but I won’t give up.”

The assault raised questions about Afghanistan’s prospects just as Nato members revealed plans for withdrawal.

Australia said it would start withdrawing troops this year and expected all international forces there to be playing a supporting role by mid-2013.

Prime minister Julia Gillard said she would take her timetable to a Nato conference on Afghanistan in Chicago in late May, before which the US is aiming to sign an agreement on a future presence after Nato’s 2014 combat force withdrawal.

Mr Karzai challenged the US to do more on funding. “We would like to help them save their money and give some of it back to us,” Mr Karzai said of the US, adding he wanted at least $2 billion (£1.26bn) a year from Washington after 2014.

He said that while the United States had promised money as part of its strategic partnership, it had not specified an amount.

“Write the figure, just write something!” Karzai said.