Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai said that the escalation of the war in Afghanistan is inflicting a devastating toll on the nation’s infrastructures and national assets.
In an address to the 9th Moscow Conference on International Security, the former president called on major powers and countries in the region to work together for peace in Afghanistan and for stability in the region.
Referring to the attack on the Sayed al-Shuhada girls school in western Kabul on May 8, Karzai called on the regional countries to support Afghanistan in the peace process.
“Conflict has increased, insecurity has increased and Afghanistan is again facing an uncertain future. It is time for our larger region and major powers and our neighbors to play a more stronger and proactive role for bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan,” said Karzai.
“Three years ago, the United States launched a peace process for Afghanistan and the Afghan people wholeheartedly supported this peace process as it is the overwhelming desire of the Afghan people … our peace, and for that reason, the US was given wholehearted support with the hopes and expectations that this will happen soon, but it has been three years the peace process is still going on while the situation in the country is worsening with more casualties, with more conflict, with more uncertainty for Afghanistan and this region,” said Karzai.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu at the same event said that Afghanistan could be pushed into a civil war after the withdrawal of US forces from the country.
“The situation in Afghanistan requires the particular attention both from the neighboring countries and also the international organizations. It is necessary to admit that over the past 20 years, the presence of the western allies, they still haven’t managed to share real results. After the withdrawal of NATO forces, we can have another civil war,” said Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.
“In the view of US withdrawal, the regional countries should try to ensure their longstanding security,” said Mahdi Rabbani, the deputy head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
This comes a day after a Wall Street Journal article citing US intelligence officials said that the government of Afghanistan could collapse as soon as six months after the American military withdrawal from the country is completed.
“The new assessment of the overall US intelligence community, which hasn’t been previously reported, has now aligned more closely with the analysis that had been generated by the US military. The military has already withdrawn more than half of its 3,500 troops and its equipment, with the rest due to be out by Sept. 11,” the Wall Street Journal wrote.