Former Afghan Warlord Hekmatyar Enters Presidential Race – Reuters
A former warlord accused of historic war crimes entered Afghanistan’s presidential race on Saturday in a new challenge to President Ashraf Ghani who allowed him to return from exile two decades he was forced out by the Taliban.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose fighters killed thousands in Kabul during the bloody civil war of the 1990s, has remained a divisive figure since his return from exile in 2016.
His decision to contest the presidential polls in July is seen by analysts as the ex-warlord’s attempt legitimize his Hizb-i-Islami party. The faction has been blamed for atrocities committed during Afghanistan’s brutal civil war, which led many Afghans to welcome the emergence of the Taliban in 1996 in the hope the hardline Islamist group would restore law and order.
In 2003, the U.S. State Department listed him as a terrorist, accusing him of taking part in and supporting attacks by al Qaeda and the Taliban. But Washington later welcomed Ghani’s decision to sign a peace deal with Hekmatyar…