Obama: Afghanistan War has made U.S. safer

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said the United States is safer thanks to the sacrifice of troops, diplomats and intelligence analysts during the now decade-long war in Afghanistan.

Obama noted the 10-year anniversary of the war's start in a quiet style Friday, offering a written statement and holding no public events to note the date.

The White House said Obama has already led a national reflection on a decade of war -- on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that led to the invasion of Afghanistan.

Obama saluted the more than 1,700 U.S. troops who have died in the war, along with the coalition and Afghan forces killed.

He said that because of the effort, "our citizens are safer and our nation is more secure."

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai claimed the Taliban are being propped up by neighboring Pakistan, saying the militants can't make a move without the Pakistanis.

The war will only end when something is done to rout insurgents from their sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan, Karzai said in an interview with the BBC that aired Friday.

"Definitely, the Taliban will not be able to move a finger without Pakistani support," Karzai said. "The fact is the Taliban were and are stationed, in terms of their political headquarters and operational headquarters, in Pakistan. We all know that. The Pakistanis know that. We know that."

Pakistan maintains it cut off ties to the Taliban and other militants after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, but Washington and Kabul say otherwise.

Also Friday, a suicide bomber and rocket fire struck U.S.-run outposts in Afghanistan near the Pakistani border.

No deaths were reported among U.S. service members at the three outposts in Paktika province, and it was unclear if the attacks were timed to coincide with the anniversary of the start of the war.