London: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, chief of Afghanistan’s second largest militant group, the Hezb-i-Islami, has condemned the Pakistani Taliban and denied that his group had any links with them.
In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, he berated the Pakistani Taliban for depriving girls of education.
Hekmatyar, a former Afghan prime minister, also vowed to kill as many Western soldiers as possible before NATO forces’ withdrawal in 2014 from the country.
“Before the withdrawal of invading forces, the Mujahideen would like to witness with their own eyes a scene that will teach the invaders to never think of coming this way again,” he said in a video obtained by the Telegraph in response to questions asked through an intermediary, AFP reported.
Hekmatyar, designated a global terrorist by the United States, warned that Afghanistan could collapse into bloody civil unrest after Nato troops withdraw, 13 years after the US-led invasion.
“The fact is that the government has failed,” he said.
“We might have a dreadful situation after 2014 which no one could have anticipated.”
He condemned the Pakistani Taliban’s blocking of girls’ schooling.
He insisted that Hezb-i-Islami “consider education is as necessary for girls as it is for boys”, though they object to combined male and female classes.
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