HI commander parts ways with Gulbadin, forms group

Monitoring Desk

KUNDUZ: A commander of Hezb-i-Islami in northeastern Baghlan province, Abdullah Nahzatyar, parted ways with Gulbadin Hekmatyar and formed his own group “Majma Islah-e-Talban Hezb-i-Islami”. The formation of the newly group was announced during a meeting held in Pul-e-Khumri, capital of Baghlan province.

In a statement issued Thursday, the newly formed group said they expected that aspirations of jihad would be fulfilled with the return of Hekmatyar but instead some others projects were imposed on him or he was himself carrying it forward.

It said fueling ethnic and linguistic prejudices were among the projects allegedly carrying forward by Hekmatyar.

The statement said the goal of the newly formed group was to achieve the aim and values crushed by the “Hezb traitors” or grabbed by an individual or a single family. It said Majma Islah Talban Hezb-i-Islami wanted brotherly relations with Jamiat-e-Islami and condemned the factional fighting between Hezb-i-Islami and Jamiat in the past.

The group announced support to the programs of former Balkh governor Atta M. Noor and urged other members of Hezb-i-Islami to join them to get rid the party from a single person and family and ethnic fascism.

The leader of the newly formed party, Nazhatyar is hailing from Ghorband, Parwan province, and was an influential commander of Hezb-i-Islami during jihad against former Soviet Union in Dand Ghori, Markazi Baghlan and Pul-e-Khumri districts of Baghlan province.

Some observers in Baghlan believe that northern alliance, especially Atta Muhammad Noor, fears that Hekmatyar may pose a threat to them in the upcoming parliamentary election that is why they started distracting some key people from Hekmatyar.

Earlier, Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal had also parted ways with Hekmatyar and formed his own faction of Hezb-i-Islami.