Statements by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, have put US forces in danger, the top US general in the Afghanistan has said. General Joseph Dunford's warning came on Thursday after Karzai said at a public appearance on March 11 that the Taliban and US continue to hold talks in Qatar, despite rhetoric to the contrary.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has called on NATO allies to stand by their funding commitments to Afghanistan following the December 2014 international troop withdrawal. Speaking at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, Clinton reminded austerity-hit European nations of their commitments to the $4.1bn pledged annually to the Central Asian nation after foreign forces end their combat role.

Costly US efforts to build major infrastructure projects in Afghanistan are running far behind schedule, and may fall short of counter-insurgency goals central to the US military campaign there, a government watchdog has warned. Almost $400m in power grid, roads and other construction projects from fiscal 2011 "may not achieve the desired COIN effects," the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said.

Al Jazeera understands that US and Afghan officials are close to signing a deal on the future of controversial night raids, which have become a major hurdle in discussions over the long-term relations between the two countries. The agreement will give Afghan security forces the lead role in the operations and provide Afghan judicial oversight, officials said.

The increasing influence of a conservative circle within President Hamid Karzai's palace has impeded progress in signing a crucial strategic agreement with the US to chart the relationship beyond 2014, officials and analysts have said. Their outspoken anti-US views have frustrated Karzai's diplomats negotiating with US officials, often resulting in messy clashes.