Hamid Karzai

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Barack Obama, Hamid Karzai, and Asif Ali Zardari

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Hamid Karzai

president of Afghanistan

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Mar 25, 2024 • Article History

Hamid Karzai

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Category: History & Society

Born:: December 24, 1957, Kandahār, Afghanistan (age 66)

Title / Office:: president (2004-2014), Afghanistan

Role In:: Afghanistan War

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Recent News

Mar. 22, 2024, 4:18 AM ET (MSN)

Former Afghan President Karzai emphasizes importance of Doha meeting amid ongoing crisis under Taliban rule

Hamid Karzai (born December 24, 1957, Kandahār, Afghanistan) Afghan politician who was the first elected president of Afghanistan (2004–14). Karzai was the son of the chief of the Popalzai Pashtuns, and both his father and grandfather served in the government of Mohammad Zahir Shah. Under the Soviet-imposed regime in the 1980s, the Karzai family left Afghanistan and settled in Pakistan. Karzai attended Himachal Pradesh University in India, earning a master’s degree (1982) in political science. During the Afghan War (1978–92) he worked with the mujahideen, who sought to overthrow the Soviet-backed government, and often traveled to the United States to ...(100 of 1043 words)

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