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Karzai At 'End Of The Rope,' Says Witnesses Dispute U.S. Account Of Killings

Saying that Sunday's murders of 16 civilians has him at "the end of the rope," Afghan President Hamid Karzai "lashed out at the United States" today, The Associated Press reports.

According to the wire service and other news outlets such as the BBC, Karzai also said that family members of the victims tell him that they're convinced there was more than one shooter.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet reports that Karzai referred to the information from American military officials that only one soldier, an unidentified Army staff sergeant, was involved as a "supposed" account of what happened.

The AP adds that "the Afghan leader stressed that he wants a good relationship with the U.S. but that it is becoming increasingly difficult. He insisted that the U.S. needs to respect Afghan culture and laws."

We reported earlier about the information coming out regarding the suspect and the negative effect that the killings, and the recent burnings of Qurans by U.S. military personnel, have had on U.S.-Afghan relations and the plan to withdraw American troops gradually over the next two years.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.