Karzai slams private security firms.

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has accused private security firms of fuelling war in his country, while reiterating his commitment to ban them by the end of the year. "These private security firms have caused insecurity and they've caused infringement of people's rights," he said on Monday, despite pressure from the US-led alliance on him to back down. He added that the companies "cause the deaths of Afghan children, and they cause blasts and terrorism".

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