No proxy wars in Afghanistan, Karzai tells Pakistan

Afghanistan does not want “proxy wars” on its territory, President Hamid Karzai said on a visit to Pakistan on Thursday. He told a news conference that he does not want his country to become a battleground for fights between India, Pakistan, Iran and the US. He placed emphasis on the importance of peace in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Photo: Reuters

“Afghanistan does not want any proxy wars on its territory,” Karzai said.

He said peace in both countries was vital, otherwise “Afghanistan cannot be stable or peaceful”, while he also recognised “that without a stable and peaceful Afghanistan there cannot be stability or peace in Pakistan”.

Following yesterday’s visit by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, Karzai said he did not want to see “a proxy war between Iran and the United States”, adding that “it does not want any country […] to engage in any activity against another country in Afghanistan".

Meanwhile, in Pakistan US missiles killed up to 16 people in North Waziristan on Wednesday. Two raids by drone aircraft hit a building and vehicles, according to security officials, who said the victims were armed fighters, five of them foreign.