Keywords

Taliban and the radical Muslim group Hezb-i-Islami

Old Blog Import

Thursday’s assassination attempt in the southern city of Kandahar of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is widely despised in ethnic Pashtun circles (even though he is Pashtun) for his pro-US stance, and the fatal car bomb attack on a Kabul market on the same day can be viewed as clear evidence that Hekmatyar is calling the shots, and that his battle has begun with a vengeance. The Kabul government is hated by Pashtuns for being pro-American and dominated by rival Tajiks from the north.

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Hekmatyar has also begun a campaign to win hearts and minds with a taped speech released all over eastern Afghanistan in which he queries why it is that only Pashtuns are the targets of US bombing, and not Tajiks and Uzbeks. He says that ordinary Afghan people have been humiliated by US and other soldiers entering their houses and taking away their personal weapons – and even searching their women. “

Asia Times

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