(CNN) -- The commander of the NATO-led forces in Afghanistan has taken exception to President Hamid Karzai's contention that the United States and the Taliban were holding daily talks, and that the militant group prefers that foreign troops remain in the country. "We have fought too hard over the past 12 years. We have shed too much blood over the past 12 years. We have done too much to help the Afghan Security Forces grow over the last 12 years to ever think that violence or instability would be to our advantage," said Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force.
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"We have fought too hard over the past 12 years," Dunford says
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Karzai had said the U.S. and the Taliban were holding daily talks
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Karzai, meanwhile, has been increasingly critical of @placeholder forces in recent months.
"I know these are difficult issues for President Karzai and the @placeholder people," Hagel said after the meeting.