Afghan President Hamid Karzai travelled to the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday to seek backing for an upcoming military operation aimed at rooting out militants from their heartland, dpa reported. Accompanied by his own security chiefs and the NATO commander to Afghanistan, US General Stanley McChrystal, Karzai was briefed about the security situation in the volatile province before appearing at a gathering attended hundreds of local elders and tribal chiefs, the presidential palace said in a statement. -- SPA
