AFGHANISTAN and the United States reached a deal to curb night raids on Afghan homes, giving Kabul a veto over the despised operations.
Night raids on suspected militants have helped fan anti-western sentiment ahead of a withdrawal of foreign combat troops by 2014, but are backed by Nato commanders as a key anti-insurgent tactic.
Their conduct had been one of the biggest hurdles in negotiations on a broader strategic pact governing the US's presence in the country, including advisers and special forces soldiers for at least a decade.
The deal was signed by Afghan defence minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak and Nato's top commander in the country, US Marine General John Allen.
Under the agreement, Afghan authorities will have control over prisoners taken in night raids and decide whether to allow US interrogators access to them.
An Afghan judge would also have to grant a warrant approving operations.
"Today we are one step closer to the establishment of the US-Afghan strategic partnership," Allen said at the deal's signing. "Most importantly, today we are one step closer to our shared goal of a secure and sovereign Afghanistan."
Analysts have warned that stronger curbs on night raids for quick-reaction Nato forces could hamper operations and reduce the impact of one of the most effective anti-insurgent tactics, a prospect which will privately worry Nato commanders.
US troops will continue to take part in operations, but a new elite force of Afghan special operations commandos will lead the raids.
"From now on all night raids will be conducted by the Afghan national army, police and intelligence in close co-ordination with Afghan judicial bodies," said Wardak.
Many Afghans, in complaints backed by President Hamid Karzai, say the raids violate their privacy, especially that of women in conservative areas, where support for the ethnic Pashtun-dominated Taliban is strongest.
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