NATO says it will continue to conduct nighttime raids in Afghanistan despite renewed objections from the country's president.

NATO Spokesman Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson said Monday the night raids remain the safest way to take out insurgent leaders. He said the raids account for less than one percent of civilian casualties and no shots are fired in 85 percent of the operations.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai again condemned the nighttime operations Sunday after a raid Saturday took place on the home of a senior counter-narcotics official and not the targeted leader of the Haqqani militant network.

The raid left a female relative dead and four others wounded.

Mr. Karzai has called for foreign troops to stop entering Afghan houses, saying residents cannot feel secure if they think armed soldiers might burst into their homes.

Jacobson said Afghan special forces are increasingly taking the lead in the night raids.