Afghanistan ? President Hamid Karzai has again criticized coalition strategy in fighting Afghanistan’s stubborn insurgency, saying it has thus far produced nothing but civilian deaths.

The sharp comments delivered Sunday fit a pattern of greater outspokenness by the Afghan leader as he appeals for support among the beleaguered Afghan public.

In a meeting Sunday with visiting German Parliament speaker Norbert Lammert, Karzai said there was a “serious need” to alter strategy against the Taliban and other groups linked to al-Qaida, the presidential office said.

“There should be a review of the strategy in the fight against terrorism, because the experience of the last eight years showed that the fight in the villages of Afghanistan has been ineffective apart from causing civilian casualties,” Karzai was quoted as saying.