Hekmatyar moves to new residence in Kabul

KABUL (Pajhwok): Reports about the siege of Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) leader Gulbadin Hekmatyar’s house have been denied, with sources saying he has moved to another location after talks with the government.

Sources say the residence of Hekmatyar has not been surrounded. But a decision has been taken that he will move to another place because the agreement between HIA and the previous government is un acceptable to IEA.

In 2017, HIA signed a peace agreement with the former government as a result of marathon discussions. As a result, Hekmatyar returned to Kabul, where the previous government provided some buildings in Dar-ul-Aman area.

Since last night, rumors are circulating on social media that Hekmatyar’s residence has been surrounded, his guards disarmed, his house vacated and the HIA shifted to another location.

But the jihadi leader’s son Habib Rahman Hekmatyar wrote on X: “The residence has not been besieged. We have changed our place in Kabul, after several months of discussions with officials. The HIA agreement with the former rulers is not acceptable to the current government. We had got this residence as part of the peace deal.”

An important member of the HIA, who declined to be named, also told Pajhwok Afghan News reports regarding the ringing of Hekmatyar’s house, disarming of his guards and seizure of vehicles were baseless.

He said: “The Ministry of Justice insisted the land given to HIA belongs to the Ministry of Defence. Our leader (Hekmatyar) has no problem with it. The main thing is that he has changed his residence and office address. He has chosen another place in Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan and would move there.”

Another source in Hekmatyar’s office held a similar view,  saying the HIA head had shifted to a new place from Dar-ul-Aman.

Abdul Nafe Takor, former spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, wrote on X: “Hekmatyar Sahib has not left the country and will never do so. He has not been forced to leave the country and no one would be allowed to do so. Foreign lackeys’ slogans that Hekmatyar Sahib is being forced to leave Afghanistan are not true.”

He wrote the main issue was that Hekmatyar’s previous residence was on IEA land. According to mutual understanding with the authorities, he has been given another place and he is moving there.

The Ministry of Justice has not yet commented on the development.

sa/mud