Early Life and Political Career
Karzai was born in 1961 in the village of Karz, located in the Dand district of Kandahar in Afghanistan. He is the son of Abdul Ahad Karzai and brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Mahmud Karzai and Quayum Karzai. He attended Habibia High School in Kabul but was not able to finish his studies due to the Soviet war in Afghanistan. He migrated to neighbouring Pakistan and then went to the United States where lived for about ten years. He married there and has two sons and three daughters.
He came to political prominence in Afghanistan following the US occupation of the country in 2001, where he was a key ally of the US military in the country's south. He was elected to the Kandahar Provincial Council in 2005 and exercised influence in the province to the extent that he was described as "effectively the governor". At the time of his death, he was the Council's chairman.
A few days before his death, Ahmed Wali Karzai appeared on a British television programme, "Afghanistan: The Unknown Country," presented by Lyse Doucet, at his home in Kandahar, talking about public perceptions of him. Doucet said: "Like most strong men, he depended on family and fellow tribesmen to protect him."
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