- Title: Profile of Afghan former warlord and presidential candidate Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
- Date: 19th September 2019
- Summary: Former Afghan warlord and former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar met his supporters in an unknown location in Afghanistan. UNKNOWN LOCATION, AFGHANISTAN (FILE - AUGUST 29, 1993) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** GULBUDDIN HEKMATYAR'S CAMP HELICOPTER AND ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIER PARKED AT CAMP GULBUDDIN HEKMATYAR STANDING WITH SUPPORTERS GROUP OF ARMED FIGHTERS Afghan citizens were seen fleeing from their homes to escape the violence as a civil war brought destruction and death to Kabul. KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (FILE - SEPTEMBER 4, 1993) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AFGHANS CLAMBERING ONTO OVERCROWDED BUSES MAN SQUATTING AT WINDOW OF UNFINISHED SOVIET STYLE HOUSING BUILDING AFGHAN FAMILY ON BALCONY AFGHAN CHILDREN WALKING AT HOUSING COMPOUND Hekmatyar returned to the country after two decades in hiding and met his supporters in eastern Afghanistan. LAGHMAN, AFGHANISTAN (FILE - APRIL 28, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HEKMATYAR GREETING AND SPEAKING TO HIS SUPPORTERS AT GOVERNMENT GUEST HOUSE In his first public speech since signing a peace deal with the Afghan government, Hekmatyar called for the Taliban to stop fighting and begin negotiations. MEHTAR LAM, LAGHMAN, AFGHANISTAN (FILE - APRIL 29, 2017) (REUTERS) HEKMATYAR ARRIVING AT CEREMONY TO DELIVER HIS SPEECH TO SUPPORTERS AND POLITICIANS VARIOUS OF HEKMATYAR SITTING ON STAGE BEFORE GIVING SPEECH ATTENDEES
- Embargoed: 3rd October 2019 05:05
- Keywords: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Kabul warlord hiding taliban afghanistan supporters
- Location: KABUL, LAGHMAN, UNKNOWN, AFGHANISTAN / BHURBAN, PAKISTAN
- City: KABUL, LAGHMAN, UNKNOWN, AFGHANISTAN / BHURBAN, PAKISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AXHPNIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was Afghanistan's former Prime Minister and a former warlord accused of war-crimes by human rights activists, and is standing for the presidential elections on September 28.
Once an ally of the CIA and a friend to Osama bin Laden, he was known as the "Butcher of Kabul" and "Rocketyar" in reference to hundreds of rockets he rained down indiscriminately during a civil war with other warlords in the 1990s that lead to the deaths of around 50,000 civilians in Kabul alone.
Hekmatyar later served briefly as Prime Minister of Afghanistan in 1993 and 1996 before fleeing to the Iranian capital of Tehran for refuge when Taliban forces took over Kabul.
In 2003, the U.S. state department labelled Hekmatyar a "global terrorist" and accused him of supporting militant acts by al-Qaeda and the Taliban. His group was also blamed for a 2013 attack in Kabul in which two U.S. soldiers, four U.S. civilian contractors and eight Afghans were killed.
In 2016 a peace deal was signed by the Afghan government that pardoned Hekmatyar for his past crimes and allowed him to return to Afghanistan after two decades in exile. Washington welcomed the move, but it was criticized by many locals for whom Hekmatyar remains a divisive figure whose fighters were responsible for thousands of deaths during the civil war of the 1990s.
In January 2019, Hekmatyar announced his candidacy for Afghanistan's presidential race in September, pledging to restore peace and security as he criticized the current government of its failures to end the war with the Taliban.
(Production: Hameed Farzad, Sayed Hassib) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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