ZHD/HGH/MMN

As NATO forces prepare for a bloody confrontation with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, Kabul calls on the international presence to end military raids on villages and spare the lives of civilians.

A January 20th photo shows a girl standing against a wall on in Orgune, Afghanistan, a week after a recent UN report showed that violence in Afghanistan had claimed 2,400 civilians in 2009.

Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that he was hoping to see civilian casualties ceased completely in the war-torn country. He went on to urge the United Nations and international agencies to cooperate with the Afghan government instead of acting as its rival, which he said was "undermining in reality the buildup of the Afghan state and its institutions."

The Afghan president has been denouncing the killing of civilians, which has fueled anti-American sentiments in Afghanistan. A UN report released in January has painted a grim picture of the stepped-up military action aimed at killing militants. The report showed that the number of civilians killed in 2009 was higher than in any year since the 2001 US-led invasion.

Reciting the 2009 civilian death toll that surpassed 2,400 people and rose by 14%, Karzai criticized foreign forces at the London meeting on Afghanistan in January for the rising number of civilian deaths in NATO-led raids, saying the figures were "unacceptably high." The United States and its allies argue militant hideouts are being targeted in their military operations, which include the imprecise drone attacks that result in civilian casualties.