KABUL — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other senior Afghan officials in Kabul on Wednesday amid rising concerns in Washington over the toll corruption is taking on the U.S.-led war effort.
Holder’s visit comes at a sensitive time. U.S. lawmakers this week vowed to block U.S. funds for nonmilitary and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan in response to reports suggesting that Afghan officials are doing little to curb widespread corruption and in some instances have hindered U.S. efforts to bring prominent Afghan officials to justice.
On Tuesday, Afghanistan’s attorney general disputed that his office’s anti-corruption efforts are systematically stymied by political meddling from Karzai’s office. Mohammed Ishaq Aloko said the only official who has attempted to exert undue pressure on his office is U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.
Earlier Wednesday, insurgents detonated a car bomb outside the gate of an air base that serves as a NATO military hub in eastern Afghanistan and engaged in a gun battle with guards in the latest unsuccessful attempt by militants to penetrate a military compound.
At least eight suspected militants were slain in the attack on Jalalabad air base, Afghan officials said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the operation, The Associated Press reported. NATO officials said the air base’s perimeter was not breached.
The Washington Post
