Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai (left) walks past an honour guard with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Kabul yesterday. - Reuters

KABUL (Reuters):

The world must remain engaged in Afghanistan until the country manages to stand on its own feet or "terrorists" will strike again, President Hamid Karzai warned yesterday.

The Taliban and allies such as the al-Qaida network have stepped up raids in the past 18 months in Afghanistan, despite the presence of nearly 50,000 foreign troops led by NATO and the United States military, as well as some 100,000 Afghan forces.

In that period thousands of people, including more than 200 Western troops, have died in the violence, the bloodiest since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban Government in 2001 in retaliation for the September 11 attacks on the United States.