Hezb-e Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has launched a fresh broadside against the Taliban regime, describing it as a “government of oppressors, corrupt figures, plunderers, usurpers and foreign mercenaries” and accusing its rule of contributing to the destruction of Afghan society.
Hekmatyar made the remarks during a virtual meeting with members of his party abroad, sharply criticizing the Taliban leadership and its governance of Afghanistan.
He said that allowing what he described as oppressors, corrupt figures, plunderers, usurpers and foreign mercenaries to rule Afghanistan had inflicted serious damage on society and the country.
The Hezb-e Islami leader has increasingly distanced himself from the Taliban regime after initially welcoming its return to power in 2021. His latest comments reflect his continuing opposition to the Taliban’s political and governing approach.
In a statement issued in the not-so-distant past, Hekmatyar had also directed members of Hezb-e Islami who supported or maintained close association with the Taliban to sever those ties, further underscoring the political divide that has since emerged between his party and the Taliban authorities.
Hekmatyar’s latest remarks come as the Taliban continues to face criticism over its governance, restrictions on political activity and exclusion of rival Afghan political forces from the country’s political process.
His characterization of the Taliban regime as being composed of “foreign mercenaries” also signals his continued rejection of the group’s claim to represent Afghanistan through its current system of rule.
The remarks add to Hekmatyar’s increasingly outspoken criticism of the Taliban, with the Hezb-e Islami leader positioning his party outside the Taliban’s political framework while continuing to call for an alternative political arrangement for Afghanistan.
