 An Afghan group opposed to the presence of US troops in Afghanistan Thursday announced it would continue jihad against the incumbent government and the US military. Led by former Afghan premier and veteran of the Afghan jihad (holy war) Gulbadin Hekmatyar, the group rejected the reconciliation offer of President Hamid Karzai and vowed their struggle would continue till the last foreign soldier quit their land.
| Been a while since we've heard from the Hexter. Just like the good ol' days, when Rantburg was brand new. (snif) How's that small arms training and random grenade-lobbing academy thingy working for you, Hek? |
| Poor Hek. His party threw him out and he's been feeding on scraps from the Taliban table, being kept as a pet by Arabs. The Secret Army of Doom™ was a bust. Charles Taylor took over his title as the most evil man in the world, and now it's held by Zark. It's tough, being a has-been. |
 Hekmatyar, who led the Hezbi Islami party during the anti-Soviet struggle in the eighties and nineties, in his statement urged the Afghans to wage jihad against the infidels on their land.
| We knew that. He never says anything else. The only thing unusual is that he said anything at all. |
He said reconciliation was impossible as long as foreign forces stay in Afghanistan . Gulbadin Hekmatyar, who was once a close ally of the US in the eighties, had gone in hiding after the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
He was a close ally of Qazi, which is why he was always first at the trough. The name I always heard when I worked the problem was Masood. Hek didn't leave Iran, he was tossed, and was met with sneers when he tried to reestablish his network. His drawers were scorched by a Predator and since then he's been hiding out, probably in a government villa in Peshawar. |
He was prime minister of the first mujahidin government formed after the pullout of Russian troops from Afghanistan in 1990.
| In that capacity he rocketed Kabul, trying to get rid of Rabbani and setting off the Dog-Eat_Dog that allowed the Talibs to waltz in and take over. |
Like several other warlords who fled the country after the coming into power of the hardliner student militia in 1996, Hekmatyar took refuge in neighbouring Iran. He later joined hands with the Taliban after the latter were overthrown as a result of US invasion in 2001.
| He couldn't very well join hands with the Northern Alliance, and nobody in his right mind, even in Pashtunistan, would actually vote for him... |
| ... most everyone wants him dead; I wonder why he still consumes oxygen ... |
Since then, he is believed to be hiding somewhere in the 2300 kilometres porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.  | Yeah. Somewhere in the porous border on the Pak side. |
His latest statement was bravely released from an undisclosed location in Peshawar and faxed to wire services and newspapers. He said he would not bow before the US forces and the incumbent Afghan government.
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