Afghan President Hamid Karzai is a former agent of the Inter-Services Intelligence, when it had its horns locked with Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan.
"Karzai had been with us during the entire jihad. He was commissioned with me. Not only him "” his brother, his father "” all of them were working with us "” I know the whole family," claimed a former ISI officer Col (retd) Shuja Khanzada in an interview.
"They (Karzais) had bases in Peshawar and used to call on me every week for instructions. Today, the same Karzai is talking rubbish," said Khanzada, a member of the Punjab Chief Minister's Inspection Team, in an interview with The Post.
Asked about General Musharraf's recent disclosure that some former ISI officers were assisting the Taliban, Khanzada said no serving ISI officer was aiding the Taliban in their insurgency.
"Certain retired officers may have emotional ties with the Taliban along with whom they fought for 10 years, but they cannot offer them any tangible help because retired personnel are not capable of supporting a movement."
"This appears to be the sequel to the campaign launched by American media in 1992 when they wanted to clip the wings of the ISI, which is one of the best intelligence agencies in the world. The Afghan jihad could never have succeeded without the ISI", he added.
The bear trap could never have been laid and the Soviet superpower could never have been brought to its knees had the ISI not planned, coordinated and conducted the Afghan resistance for 10 long years," said Khanzada.
The ISI defended the world from Soviet expansion. The agency has shielded Pakistan from threats to our nuclear capability and to our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Khanzada said.
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