Description

A familiar face of the violent Afghan mosaic for decades, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is back again -this time as leader of a terrorist alliance, including the remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda as well as his own Hezb-e Islami militants. He has declared a new ‘jihad/ and directed a number of terrorist acts as part of it, against the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai and its international support system, comprising the UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and the US-led coalition troops. While Taliban leader Mullah Mohammend Omar and al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden appear to be hibernating, Hekmatyar has once again started to instil fear in the hearts of his opponents, as he had during the anti-Soviet jihad and the consequent intra-Afghan warfare.

If Hekmatyar is allowed to succeed in his triangular terrorist bids in Afghanistan, this may have serious implications for Central and South Asia, especially Pakistan, and nations far away. This Book exposes the many myths and uncovers the several mysteries surrounding Hekmatyar’s personality. In particular, it analyses his extremely pragmatic approach to gaining secular power while wrapping himself within Islamic credentials. In fact, this has been Hekmatyar’s major distinction in the Context of Afghan warfare, and this is what makes him even more dangerous than bin Laden and Mullah Omar.