News Analysis |
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that the Islamic State Khurasan faction has emerged in Afghanistan under the watch of the US military and intelligence agencies. He made these remarks in a television interview to Russia Today.
Karzai asserted: “I get daily reports by the Afghan people that unmarked military helicopters supply the IS in many parts of Afghanistan.” He said that even after 16 years of war and pumping in billions of dollars, extremism is on the rise. Karzai, who was installed as the president of Afghanistan in 2001 was a willing ally of the US throughout his tenure.
Afghanistan has thus once again become a territory where global powers are vying for control; Russia is the new entrant and that too an important one
However, he has pointed out to US involvement in Afghanistan as destabilizing, twice in the last 5 months. Earlier this year, Karzai made similar assertions when the ISIS-K was gaining a foothold in Afghanistan.
Karzai further said: “We don’t want our country to be bombed with huge, destructive weapons. We want peace.” He also said that military options by foreign forces will not bring peace and called Taliban the sons of the soil. Besides, he called upon the US to engage with regional countries to include Russia, Pakistan, China, and India.
Read more: Focusing on ISIS: Are we losing sight of a bigger enemy…
Karzai who has been a vocal critic of Pakistan said that both countries have to live together. “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,” he said while adding that his country wants to join hands with Islamabad.
The Kremlin Factor
Here it must be borne in mind that regional players in China, Pakistan, Iran, and Russia have taken a similar stance on the new South Asia policy rolled out in August this year
Karzai has particularly been focusing on the proliferation of the ISIS in Afghanistan and linking it to the tacit support provided by the US. Russia’s desire to re-emerge as a power player in the region has resulted in it playing an assertive role in Afghanistan. The Moscow-peace process launched in December last year wants the US to engage with the Taliban in a bid to counter the menace of the ISIS.
While Pakistan and China have fully supported Russia on this line, the US is still trying to coerce the Taliban into dialogue by militarily defeating them. This is something that on-ground dynamics do not support.
Read more: Afghanistan: 30 dead in an ISIS attack on hospital
Russia Today is an important part of Moscow’s narrative-building efforts; the interview can be reasonably considered as an information operation on part of Russia to ramp up pressure on the US forces to alter its approach.
Hamid Karzai has said that the Islamic State Khurasan faction has emerged in Afghanistan under the watch of the US military and intelligence agencies. He made these remarks in a television interview to Russia Today
Here it must be borne in mind that regional players in China, Pakistan, Iran, and Russia have taken a similar stance on the new South Asia policy rolled out in August this year. All these countries have expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the tried and tested military-heavy policy.
It remains to be seen as to how the US will muster support for the new policy especially when the Taliban have categorically stated of making Afghanistan a graveyard for US forces. However, the US has left a window for dialogue open, hoping that the Taliban can be defeated. Afghanistan has thus once again become a territory where global powers are vying for control; Russia is the new entrant and that too an important one.