John Kerry’s visit to Afghanistan appeared aimed at easing public tensions following allegations of abuses by U.S. special forces in Wardak province and President Karzai’s widely reported suggestion the U.S. is colluding with the Taliban. President Karzai said Monday his words had been misinterpreted.

President Karzai: “Now, the media took that to say that I said there is a collusion. I never used the word 'collusion' between the Taliban and the U.S., and those were not my words. Those were the [words] picked up by the media.”