Afghan President, Top US Lawmaker Meet in Kabul

Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with a top U.S. lawmaker in Kabul Saturday to discuss a new American strategy to confront a Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan.

A statement from Mr. Karzai's office says he and the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, also talked about long-term security and economic development.

The statement says Pelosi is happy with the progress of democracy in Afghanistan.

An Afghan delegation, including the foreign, defense and interior ministers, is leaving for the United States Sunday to continue talks on the new strategy. They will also meet with Pakistani officials, so all three sides can talk about the fight against terrorism.

In another development, the U.S. military says an investigation conducted with Afghan forces confirmed that a recent military operation in western Afghanistan left 13 civilians and three militants dead.

A U.S. military spokesman, Brigadier General Michael Ryan, said the inquiry into Tuesday's operation in Herat demonstrates the military's concern about civilian casualties.

U.S. President Barack Obama recently announced plans to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, bringing the total U.S. force there to about 55,000 soldiers.

The international force in Afghanistan includes another 30,000 foreign troops, mainly from NATO countries.


Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.