Kabul: Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of being behind the spate of recent attacks in the country to the US Secretary of State John Kerry. He also alleged the neighbouring country of blocking his government from striking a peace deal with the Taliban
Although Karzai routinely makes accusations against Islamabad, but his tone in recent days has been scathingly direct. They come after three attacks in five days in the capital Kabul, the latest coming on Saturday when assailants fired machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at the country’s electoral commission ahead of next week’s general election.
Karzai also told Kerry on Saturday he did not accept the US’ arguments that it had no influence “over countries that support terrorism,†and said the US’ refusal to go after the ISI could further hurt its relations with Afghanistan.
Northern Afghanistan has bared the brunt of most recent attacks with Islamist insurgents, rival militias and criminal gangs active in some districts.
The south and east of Afghanistan are almost entirely Pashtun, the ethnicity that has largely ruled Afghanistan for hundreds of years, and to whom Taliban are almost exclusively drawn to.
The north is home to a wide array of ethnicities, including Tajiks, Uzbeks and at least some Hazaras, who are more concentrated in the centre of the country. It is seen as the crucial region for the polls to test the new era as the Afghan army and police take on the Taliban without the assistance of 53,000 NATO combat troops.