KABUL: In a phone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Hamid Karzai accused Pakistan of being behind a recent series of attacks and of blocking his government from striking a peace deal with the Taliban, the Afghan president’s office said on Sunday.

Karzai routinely makes such accusations against Islamabad, but his tone in recent days has been particularly pointed and direct. They come after three attacks in five days in Kabul, the latest coming on Saturday when assailants fired machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades at the country’s electoral commission ahead of next week’s general election.

In his conversation with Kerry on Saturday, Karzai alleged the attacks were complex in nature and stage-managed by ‘foreign intelligence agencies’, a reference to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence.

He also told Kerry that he did not accept US arguments that it had no influence “over countries that support terrorism”, and said the US’s refusal to go after the Pakistani intelligence agency could further hurt its relations with Afghanistan.

US officials confirmed the phone call took place but declined to comment on the conversation.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the recent violence in Kabul. Islamabad has a long and complicated relationship with the group, but few analysts accept Karzai’s allegations that Pakistani intelligence agencies and not the Taliban are staging attacks.

Pakistan denies that it is assisting the Taliban. “It is highly disturbing that attempts are being made to somehow implicate Pakistan in this terrorist incident,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement issued after the Afghan presidency blamed Pakistan for a March 21 assault on the Serena Hotel that left nine dead.

“We reject the insinuation. The tendency to immediately blame Pakistan is unhelpful and should be discarded.”

According to the Afghan presidency, Karzai told Kerry that the Taliban were willing to talk to his High Peace Council, a body tasked by the president to spearhead reconciliation with armed opposition, but Pakistan was stopping the militants from starting a dialogue.

The Taliban have denied any talks with Karzai and said they do not want to speak to the Afghan president. However several Taliban leaders have met members of Karzai’s High Peace Council in the UAE, according to both Taliban and high peace council members.—AP