US arming Daesh in Afghanistan: Karzai

LONDON: Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai says Daesh has emerged in Afghanistan in the past three to four years under the watch of US military and its intelligence agencies.

In an interview with ‘Russia Today’ here, Hamid Karzai said he had more than suspicions that the US bases in Afghanistan were used to aid Daesh.  “I get daily reports by the Afghan people that unmarked military helicopters supply Daesh in many parts of Afghanistan,” he claimed.

Karzai said from 9/11 until today there was more extremism in Afghanistan despite spending billions of dollars. He stated that the Afghan people ask if the US came to Afghanistan to defeat extremism, why do we have more of it today.

“We don’t want our country to be bombed with huge destructive weapons. We want peace,” said Karzai adding that the use of MOAB (mother of all bombs) by the US forces was an indication to North Korea to show off US power but it was an atrocity on the Afghan people.

“Military action, especially by foreign forces, will not bring peace. Afghans need to evolve a consensus to reach out to everybody including sons of the soil, the Taliban, to seek a settlement,” he suggested.

The former president said the US needs to become a cooperative partner in the region including with China, Russia, Pakistan and India to bring peace.

With regard to Pakistan, Karzai said: “We have to live together with Pakistan. There are two strong contrasts in our relationship with Pakistan. The Pakistani people welcomed us when we became refugees. But they also did the horrible activity of supporting the Mujahideen [against Soviets] which weakened our society.”

Karzai said he hopes the new US policy for the region sees that Pakistan was used by the US against its neighbour for an inhumane purpose. He said they want to join hands with Pakistan to salvage us from this deep conspiracy.

Asked about Iran’s role in Afghanistan, Karzai said Iran was not at all the problem but in fact had been a tremendous help.  “It is a country that is clearly against extremism,” said Karzai adding that the present Afghan President Ashraf Ghani should ensure that the Afghan soil was not used against Iran or any other neighbouring country for that matter.