Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar on Saturday urged the Taliban to give up the “meaningless and unholy war” in the country and begin negotiations with the government, reported Reuters. The founder of Islamist organisation Hezb-i-Islami made the statement at a public gathering in Afghanistan’s Laghman province in his first public speech since signing a peace deal with the government.
“If you lay down your guns and come forward, I will be the first one to call you my brother,” he told the Taliban, according to Al Jazeera. “I want a free, proud, independent and Islamic Afghanistan.”
Hekmatyar – often called the “Butcher of Kabul” – returned to public life on Saturday after more than 20 years in exile. Referring to last week’s Taliban attack on an Afghan Army base in Balkh, in which 140 soldiers were killed, he said, “Let’s stop this devastating war for the sake of Allah,” TOLO News reported.
The former prime minister is expected to give a speech in Kabul in the coming week, but many Afghans have mixed feelings about his return. His posters as well as several of members of his group were found lying torn on the streets.
Hekmatyar founded Hezb-i-Islami in 1975. He had served as prime minister following the collapse of a Soviet-backed government between 1992 and 1996. Hezb-e Islami has its power base among the Pashtun tribes, though it no longer holds the same clout it did in the 1980s.
The warlord has been accused of carrying out many attacks in Kabul and had been designated a “global terrorist” by the United States in 2003. However, in February this year, the United Nations Security Council had lifted sanctions on him, after which he had returned to Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had said Hekmatyar’s return will have “remarkable” effects on peace and stability in the country.
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