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KABUL - Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has said that the United States has links with terrorist ‘Islamic State’, also known as Daesh.

Karzai, who ruled the war-torn country with the help of US coalition for almost a decade, told Voice of America (VOA) that he considers “Daesh a tool of US”.

“After it (the US) dropped the [mother of all] bomb on Afghanistan, it did not eliminate Daesh.”

Karzai revealed that the terrorist group has been supplied weapons by the United States forces. “The US army helicopters and army bases are being used to provide assistance to ISIS terrorists,” he said while echoing Russian claims of American support to the ISIS terrorists.

“I do not differentiate at all between Daesh and America,” the ex-president said while dismissing criticism of Moscow’s ties with the Taliban.

He emphasised that work need to be done to control extremism.

Reports of American assistance to the terrorists are coming from all over the country, Karzai said while stressing that the US government must answer the questions of Afghan people.

Earlier, in an interview with Russia Today in London, Karzai said Daesh has emerged in Afghanistan in the past three to four years under the watch of US military and intelligence agencies.

Karzai said he has more than suspicions that US bases in Afghanistan are used to aid Daesh. “I get daily reports from the Afghan people that unmarked military helicopters supply Daesh in many parts of Afghanistan,” he claimed.

Karzai said from 9/11 until today, there is more extremism in Afghanistan, despite spending billions of dollars. He stated the Afghan people ask if the US came to Afghanistan to defeat extremism, "why do we have more of it today".

“We don’t want our country to be bombed with huge, destructive weapons. We want peace,” said Karzai, adding the use of MOAB by the US forces was an indication to North Korea to show off US power, but it was an atrocity on the Afghan people.

“Military action, especially by foreign forces, will not bring peace. Afghans need to evolve a consensus to reach out to everybody, including ‘sons of the soil’ Taliban, to seek a settlement,” he suggested.

The former president said that the US needs to become a cooperative partner in the region, including with China, Russia, Pakistan and India, to bring peace.

With regards to Pakistan, Karzai said that we have to live together with Pakistan. He said there are two strong contrasts in their relationship with Pakistan:

“Pakistani people welcomed us when we became refugees. But they also did the horrible activity of supporting the Mujahideen [against Soviets] which weakened our society.”

Karzai said that he hopes the new US policy for the region sees that Pakistan was used by the US against its neighbour for an inhumane purpose.

He said that they want to join hands with Pakistan to “salvage us from this deep conspiracy”.

When asked about Iran’s role in Afghanistan, Karzai said Iran is not at all the problem but in fact has been a tremendous help. “It is a country that is clearly against extremism,” said Karzai, adding present Afghan President Ashraf Ghani should ensure that Afghanistan’s soil is not used against Iran, or any other neighbouring country for that matter.