Foreign-backed inner circles out to ruin the system, says HIA chief

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: The Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) Arghandiwal faction on Tuesday said a number of foreign countries “are trying to create power islands in Afghanistan to challenge each other.”

Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, the HIA chief, told a gathering in support of Afghan security forces here that some internal circles with outside support were trying to destroy the system.

“Outside enemies of Afghanistan do not want a strong central government that can secure national interests. Some inner circles in cooperation with their foreign allies want to destroy the system,” he alleged.

Arghandiwal, a former minister, said foreign countries wanted to create ‘power islands’ in Afghanistan so they would be able to challenge one another and find access to the country’s resources without any fear.

He did not name any person, group or country, but asked the Afghans not to let the enemies create divisions among them in the name of tribe, religion and language and destroy the hard-won system.

He said one of the main goals of foreign countries was to control Afghanistan’s natural resources, but they would never achieve such goals. “Natural resources are national asset of people who would defend their wealth.”

Arghandiwal said the current situation was turning in the interest of Afghanistan as the view of the international community about Afghanistan had changed. Some countries supporting terrorism were isolated and it was good for the country, he added.

A number of security officials, who attended the meeting, also talked in support of the Afghan security forces.