Karzai: At the 'End of the Rope' With U.S. Over Shooting Probe

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Friday he's at the "end of the rope" with U.S. officials over what he sees as a lack of cooperation into the investigation of a soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a mass shooting earlier this week.

(Related: Soldier Accused in Afghan Killing Rampage Saw Friend’s Leg Blown Off the Day Before)

Karzai said during a meeting with the families of the 16 victims that his Afghan investigators have not received proper support or cooperation from their American counterparts, the Associated Press reported.

"This has been going on for too long. This is by all means the end of the rope here," Karzai told reporters at the end of the meeting. "This form of activity, this behavior, cannot be tolerated. It's past, past, past the time."

Families of the dead have said there must have been more than one shooter and that they weren't receiving all the information. Afghan authorities have also charged there is a surveillance video being kept from them.

According to the AP, Karzai said he wants a good relationship with the U.S. but that it's becoming increasingly difficult. He has tried to accelerate the transfer of responsibilities from U.S. forces to Afghan soldiers, and said international troops should leave villages in rural areas.

"Yesterday, I said clearly that the Americans should leave our villages," Karzai said. "This morning, Obama called regarding this issue. He asked, 'Did you announce this?' I said, "Yes, I announced it.'"

"I insist on this issue," Karzai added. "The fight is not in the villages, not in the houses of Afghanistan."

The accused soldier has been identified only as a 38-year-old based in Washington state on his fourth combat tour. A U.S. official told the New York Times the soldier had been drinking alcohol and suffering from stress over his deployment at the time of the alleged incident. The soldier's Seattle attorney disputed the account.