A United States general in Afghanistan has been sacked after making disparaging comments about Afghanistan's leaders.
Major General Peter Fuller was the deputy commander of NATO's mission to train and equip Afghan forces.
NATO says he was dismissed for making inappropriate public comments in an interview published by Politico, a news website.
He said Afghan leaders were isolated from reality and did not fully recognise the human and financial cost being borne by the United States.
The BBC reports General Fuller made the remarks to Politico while visiting Washington on Thursday.
He is not the first senior military figure to find himself in hot water over comments made to the media.
General Stanley McChrystal resigned as commander of US forces in Afghanistan in June 2010 after making critical comments about senior members of the Obama administration that were published by Rolling Stone magazine.
