President Ashraf Ghani government has inked a peace deal with Hezb-e-Islami, the second largest militant group of Afghanistan that facilitates the return of Islamist warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar to the Kabul scene.
The peace deal is a breakthrough for Ghani, who so far has had little to show for his efforts at ending the country’s 15-year long civil war.
The deal may not lead to any spectacular change in the overall security scenario but may pay the way for more such peace accords with many other war lords, who like him are designated as terrorists by the US.
Hekmatyar was not present at the signing ceremony in Kabul on Sept 22. His precise whereabouts is unknown, but he is believed to be in neighboring Pakistan.
The former war lord will have to ink the deal with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for it to come into force. The date is yet to be set. It is expected to be a mere formality though.
Under the terms of the deal which were hammered out over several, Hekmatyar has agreed to accept the Afghan constitution and give up violence. He was Prime Minister of Afghanistan in the early 1990s for a brief period. The deal includes provisions for his security at government expense.
Hekmatyar will be granted amnesty for past offenses and certain Hezb-e Islami prisoners will be released by the government. The Afghan government also agreed to press for the lifting of international sanctions on Hekmatyar.
The peace deal negotiations opened with a delegation sent by Hekmatyar on March 17.
“Fortunately, after two years of negotiations between Afghanistan’s High Peace Council and the Hezb-e Islami, the peace negotiations have been successfully completed, and an agreement between both sides has been finalized,” the Afghan High Peace Council, tasked with pursuing a peace settlement with militant groups, said in a statement.
Sayed Ahmad Gilani, head of the High Peace Council, said “in the light of our national interests, this could benefit both sides.” He added, “I hope that this is the beginning of a permanent peace in our country.”
Hekmatyar founded Hezb-e Islami in the mid-1970s, and the group went on to become one of the main mujahedin factions fighting the Red Army after the Soviet invasion in 1979 before subsequently battling in the civil war for control of Kabul after Moscow pulled out.
After the U.S.-led forces marched into Kabul in 2001 Hezb-e Islami suffered a split. While the political wing reconciled with the Afghan government, Hekmatyar joined with the Taliban to lead the insurgency.
He had reportedly tried to align with and Al-Qaeda and to rally Taliban against US led coalition forces. These moved earned for him a “global terrorist” tag from the US State Department in 2003.
The military wing of the Hezb-e Islami has been a largely dormant force in recent years and has little political relevance in Afghanistan. Yet, the new accord could be a template for any future deal between the government and with fundamentalist Taliban militants who have also fought Kabul’s authority.
As the deal was being signed, hundreds of protesters rallied holding placards reading “Butcher of Kabul” and “We will neither forget nor forgive.”
Hekmatyar’s forces were accused by rights groups of gross human rights violations during Afghanistan’s civil war in the 1990s, and they have carried out deadly attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces since 2001.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other groups accuse Hekmatyar of responsibility for the shelling of residential areas of Kabul in the 1990s as well as forced disappearances and covert jails where torture was commonplace.
The U.S. Embassy however welcomed the accord as “a step in bringing the conflict in Afghanistan to a peaceful end.” The United Nations said it “demonstrates the preparedness of Afghanistan’s government to seek peace with armed anti-government elements.”