'US waged war against Afghans not terrorism, involved in corruption': Former Afghan prez Hamid Karzai

"I was not sure of my own safety. But I would have never left and I will never leave. This is my country," Hamid Karzai.

Washington, Dec 27: Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has taken the responsibility for corruption in the country when he was in power but also claimed that the United States was involved in it.

"[I take] full responsibility for the corruption and bribes in the delivery of services ... But the big contracts, big corruption, in hundreds of millions of dollars or millions of dollars, was clearly a United States of America thing," Karzai told US-based The Washington Post.

The former president, who is being closely watched by the Taliban, said that he took the right decision to stay in the country while the extremist Taliban returned to power in August 2021. "I was not sure of my own safety. But I would have never left and I will never leave. This is my country," the former Afghan leader said.

According to Washington Post, the Taliban sees Karzai as their adversary as he was "the first individual who worked with the Americans for the occupation of Afghanistan".

Karzai was Afghanistan's president from December 2004 to September 2014. He was the leader of the country after the US toppled the Taliban government in 2001 following their military operation in response to September 11 attacks, the deadliest terrorist attacks on US soil.

Karzai claimed that the United States bears ultimate responsibility for the fate of Afghanistan. "The war in Afghanistan was not our war," Karzai told The Washington Post, adding, "I was not a partner of the United States in that war against Afghan villages and homes. I changed from the moment I recognized that this war that is fought in the name of defeating terrorism is actually a war against the Afghan people." "I called the Taliban 'brothers' for that reason," he said.

The Taliban came to power in August 2021, toppling the US-backed government as foreign troops were leaving the country.

The political crisis has exacerbated the economic disarray and food shortages that have pushed the country to the brink of a humanitarian crisis.

Meanwhile, the Taliban rulers recently banned university education for women nationwide, as they took decisive steps to crush their right to education and freedom.

It was a far cry from their promise of a softer rule when they seized power last year, with the Taliban regime strongly implementing their strict interpretation of the Islamic law, or Sharia.

"You all are informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice," according to a letter issued to all government and private universities, signed by Minister for Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadeem.