KABUL- Afghanistan link> has beendealing with dire security instability for years, with the situationbecoming sharply worse in recent months, as the Taliban has been carryingout offensives on major cities.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that Russia was the onlyforce linklink>thatcould help Afghanistan link> fightterrorism.
“I understand perfectly well that if you [Russia] build new relations withPakistan and Afghanistan link> ,you can help us. Not the Britons as we kicked them out of the countryseveral times, not the Americans as they’ve been killing us for 17 years,but Russia only. We [Afghanistan] are the last barrier from terrorists.We’ve been fighting continuously for a century and a half,” Karzai toldtheRussian NTV TV channel.
“Moscow has always helped us, even when its forces invadedAfghanistanlink> at the invitation ofthen-president Babrak Karmal. We surely fought each other at those times,but you [Russia] used to build schools and hospitals inAfghanistanlink> . Americans lie when theysay that al-Qaeda emerged as the result of your invasion. They wanted to bethe only superpower and they did it. The USSR collapsed and one of thereasons was the Afghan war,” Karzai said.
The former president noted that, when the US had declared war against theTaliban, he had told Russian President Vladimir Putin that “something wrongbegan to emerge.”
“The Americans deceived everyone again at that time. What kind of war withterrorism is it? The Taliban has more and more weapons…and we can’t handlethem without Russia’s help, ” Karzai noted.
According to the official, the US firstly allegedly pumped billions intoPakistan linklink>andthen declared there were no special relations with the country as the Asiannation failed the US.
For all requests to explain its actions, the US answered with neutralphrases, like “in order to defend stability in the region,” Karzaiexplained, adding that he had decided to resign after he had come up withthe idea thatAfghanistan link> wasjust being used.
“People used to come to me continuously from four different provinces,saying that foreigners had come by unidentified choppers to kick them outof their building and kill them….The foreigners are much more dangerous,they called themselves ‘the caliphate.’ There are several thousands of themnow inAfghanistan link> ,” theex-president said.
At the same time, Karzai noted that Afghanistanlink> ‘s airspace was “fullycontrolled by the Americans.”
“Nothing flies without their permission. They have mercenaries inAfghanistan link> with their ownarmy, aviation and security service. I tried to kick them out of thecountry, but I failed,” Karzai concluded.
Afghanistan link> has longsuffered linklink>frompolitical, social and security-related instability because of simmeringinsurgencies, including by the Taliban and Daesh. The US and the Kabulgovernment have been fighting a war with the Taliban since 2001. Beforethat, the country faced nearly two decades of civil war, remaining dividedinto several warlord-controlled regions throughout much of the 1990s.