Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that the United States (US) and NATO could not rid the region of terrorism and it continues to haunt the nation.
During the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)’s meeting in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, Karzai said the spread of terrorism and extremism would not only threaten Afghanistan and Pakistan’s stability but the entire region.
According to a statement issued from the Afghan Presidential Palace, Karzai called on regional countries to continue assisting Afghanistan, which he said, “is ready to cooperate with the SCO in the areas of peace and security”.
“A stable and united Afghanistan is in the larger interest of the region,” Karzai said.
The president also mentioned Afghanistan’s progress in various arenas, over the past decade, saying the Afghans did not want to return to the misfortunes of the past.
He said the Afghans had endured three decades of war and terrorism and extremism continued to threaten their lives.
“Regional countries should not expect that the US and NATO will rescue the region from the threat of terrorism,” Karzai said, insisting that countering terrorism was a collective responsibility of the regional states.