Hezb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has accused the Afghan government of not fulfilling its commitments to the Hezb and the US for the deadlock in the peace negotiations.
Speaking at a function in Kabul on Sunday marking the 32nd anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet forces, he claimed that the United States has “failed” in its fight against the Taliban. The US has no option except withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan as Washington has lost the war with Taliban, he added.
Hekmatyar blamed the Afghan government for not releasing Hizb leaders and threatened that it will besiege the Presidential Palace and stage protests if the government failed to fulfil its commitments.
Hekmatyar, who signed a peace deal with President Ashraf Ghani in September 2016, claimed that he has information that arms are being imported to form militias against the Taliban.
He alleged that containers packed with arms and weaponry are brought into Afghanistan and are distributed to those warlords who had previously fought against the Taliban.
Some of the attendees at the event supported the Taliban in their remarks. But the Presidential Palace called support for the Taliban a crime.
Hekmatyar termed the incumbent government the “most corrupt” in the world.
“If you don’t understand, be sure that this move will result in your removal,” he said.
However, Herat Governor Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhil, who is head of the joint commission of the implementation of the government’s agreement with the Hizb-i-Islami, claimed that the government has released 1,164 Hizb prisoners and that only 74 of them are in custody involved in serious crimes.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Palace reacted to the claim of Hekmatyar and said he ran for president under this government.
“The Muslim world believes that the Taliban war against the people and the government of Afghanistan is illegitimate. Anyone who sees this war as legitimate shares in this crime and sin,” presidential spokesman Dawa Khan Menapal said.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar joined the peace process four years ago, and according to the president’s National Security Advisory Office, he is guarded by more than 100 bodyguards.
