TEHRAN: Iran on Tuesday criticised “crimes” committed by US and other Nato troops in neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan, and said the allied forces should leave the region as soon as possible.

“The crimes committed by US, British and Nato forces that we have witnessed in the past few days in Afghanistan against innocent women and children and in Pakistan only blacken further the image of these countries for the population of the region,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.

His comment followed the murderous rampage in Afghanistan on Sunday of a rogue US soldier who broke into three village houses and killed 16 people, mainly women and children.

The act has inflamed hostility against US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, while anti-US sentiment in Pakistan is also running high following numerous drone raids and incidents that have killed civilians.

Mehmanparast said the United States and its allies “must withdraw their troops from the countries of the region as soon as possible, in order not to further boost the hate of the region’s people against them.”