Washington, June 1 : Potential Republican presidential candidate Sarah Palin has raised concerns over Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s warning of taking “unilateral action” against NATO, saying that ‘a growing divide’ between the two parties could lead the US to immediately withdraw both troops and aid from Afghanistan.

After recent NATO airstrikes mistakenly killed a group of children and women, Karzai warned of taking “unilateral action” if NATO does not stop airstrikes in his country.

“I warn NATO forces that a repeat of airstrikes on the houses of Afghanistan’s people will not be allowed. If this is repeated, Afghanistan has a lot of ways of stopping it, but we don''t want to go there. We want NATO to stop the raids on its own, without a declaration ... by the Afghan government, because we want to continue to cooperate," Karzai had said.

He said Afghanistan would be “forced to take unilateral action” if the bombings do not stop there, but did not specify what that action would be.

In a Facebook note today, Palin said the remarks revealed "a growing divide between NATO and the Karzai government."

"If President Karzai continues with these public ultimatums, we must consider our options about the immediate future of U. S. troops in his country. If he actually follows through on his claim that Afghan forces will take ''unilateral action'' against NATO forces who conduct such air raids to take out terrorists and terrorist positions, that should result in the immediate withdrawal of U. S. forces from Afghanistan and the suspension of U. S. aid," CBS News quoted Palin, as saying.

There are reports that ever since the top U. S. commander in Afghanistan, General David H. Petraeus took command in July, the number of American and allied airstrikes in the country has increased. His predecessor, General Stanley A. McChrystal, however, had minimised the use of airstrikes to avoid angering Afghan civilians.

According to the United Nations (UN) report, 2,777 civilian deaths were recorded in Afghanistan last year. Of those, 75 percent were caused by insurgents, while 16 percent were attributed to NATO and Afghan forces.
(ANI)