As US marines return to Helmand, former Afghan warlord calls for peace

AS US MARINES returned to Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand province Saturday, the first to be deployed in the war-torn country since NATO forces ended their combat role in 2014, a former Afghan warlord who battled US forces after the 2001 invasion before signing a deal with the Afghan government appeared in public for the first time in more than20yearsandcalledforpeace.

As Commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan General John Nicholson attended aceremonymarkingthereturnof some 300 marines in the southern province, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who leads the Islamist organisation Hezb-iislami,appearedinagatheringorganised by provincial officials in eastern Laghman province in which locals and government officials were also present. He said, “Let’s join hands to end war and bring peace in Afghanistan.” He called on all insurgent groups to join the peace process.

Theunremovedhekmatyar’s name from its Islamic State group and al-qaeda sanctions list in February and his assets were unfrozen and he is no longer subject to a travel ban or arms embargo.

In September, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani signed a treaty with Hekmatyar in which Hekmatyar and his followers immunityforpastactionsandgrants them full political rights.

Hekmatyar’s group carried out an attack in 2013 in central Kabul, killing at least 15 people, including six American soldiers.

One of the most influential leaders in the fight against Soviet forces in the 1980s, Hekmatyar took part in the civil war that erupted after the Soviet withdrawal,clashingwiththenorthern Alliance. Driven out when the Taliban seized power in 1996, he returned to fight the US.

GULBUDDIN HEKMATYAR