Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his government is investigating reports that US-led foreign forces have used chemical weapons in Afghanistan.
In a press conference in Kabul on Saturday, Karzai complained that the weapons used by US-led forces are polluting Afghanistan.
Karzai also called for an end to unilateral military operations in his country, adding that foreign forces should conduct their activities under Afghan law and stop killing civilians in their operations.
Kabul has been condemning attacks on Afghans, with Karzai saying the foreign forces should stop looking for Taliban militants among civilians.
The Afghan president further stated that the United States and other foreign governments are currently engaged in talks with Taliban militants.
"In the course of this year, there have been peace talks with the Taliban and our own countrymen," Karzai said during a news conference in Kabul.
"Peace talks have started with them already and it is going well. Foreign militaries, especially the United States of America, are going ahead with these negotiations."
Karzai said the talks revolve around a possible settlement to the war in Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Taliban militants must accept defeat and surrender their weapons in order to achieve a political role in Afghanistan.
Karzai has recently formed a peace council to lead talks with the Taliban, naming former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani as chairman of the council.
The newly-established peace council has been making efforts to initiate dialogue with discontented Afghans and militants who have engaged in warfare with the government.
The council has expressed willingness to listen to the legitimate demands of militants.
The development comes after senior officials in the US and the UK floated the idea of making peace with the Taliban, although the annihilation of militants was one of the main objectives of the 2001 US-led invasion.
Top militant commanders remain at large nine years after the invasion, which allegedly aimed to capture or kill al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Insecurity is on the rise across the country despite the presence of over 150,000 US-led forces there.
'Kabul probes use of chemical weapons'
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