Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: photo, biography, activities

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is an Afghan politician and field commander who began his activity in the seventies of the twentieth century. The Islamic Party of Afghanistan he created was one of the main movements around which the Mujahideen who fought against the USSR concentrated. The subject is characterized by extreme cruelty and intolerance, for his "exploits" during the civil clashes in Afghanistan in the nineties, he received a "talking" nickname: Gulbuddin - the Bloody Butcher. Hekmatyar has become more compromising over the years. The recently signed peace agreement with the Afghan authorities caused a great resonance.

Rebel

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose biography will be described below, was born in 1947 in the village of Vartapur, Kunduz province, in the north of the country. At first, he was a rather diligent young man, he successfully studied at the Imamsahib Lyceum, after whichEntered the Faculty of Engineering at Kabul University. The passion for knowledge was no longer enough, and Gulbuddin felt the heat of a tribune in himself, carried away by political activities.

He left his studies and devoted himself entirely to the fight for justice. While still at university, he became the leader of the Muslim Youth organization, participated in open speeches against roy alty and the aristocracy. The logical result of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's activities was his imprisonment.

After Mohammed Daoud's anti-monarchist coup, the young politician fled to Pakistan, escaping persecution along the way for the suspicion of killing Sohandal, a member of the Sho'la-i Javid movement.

Creation of IPA

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar came from Pashtun and adhered to extremely nationalist positions. Witnesses recall him saying that he was a Pashtun first and then a Muslim. According to unverified reports, in his youth he adhered to communist views, but his worldview became extremely radicalized after Mohammed Daoud came to power. The latter carried out real repressions against the Muslim clergy of Afghanistan, against which Hekmatyar sharply opposed.

It was impossible to stay in the country, and the Pashtun decided to continue the fight against Daoud in Pakistan. Here, he was given all possible support by the Pakistani special services, who sought to strengthen their influence in the neighboring country.

Based on extremistgrouping "Muslim Brotherhood", as well as a kind of Komsomol movement "Muslim Youth", the dissident created his own political party - Hezb e-Islomi, better known as the Islamic Party of Afghanistan.

In 1975, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was one of the leaders of the armed uprising against Daoud in Pandshir, but the rebellion bogged down, and the revolutionary retreated to Pakistan. Disappointed by the defeat, he temporarily left the fight, but in 1979 he was again elected Emir of Hezb e-Islomi.

Mujahideen

With the advent of the OKSV, or simply the Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops, on the Afghan proscenium, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar had a new, clear goal in life. His IPA became the core of one of the largest Mujahideen groups fighting against the Soviet troops. According to the "hero" himself, the number of his party numbered about 100,000 people. These data are doubtful, however, the number of Hekmatyar's armed units during the hostilities was high and approached forty thousand.

Objectively speaking, the leader of Hezb e-Islomi was distinguished by outstanding personal qualities: independence, personal courage, and a tough leadership style of the party. This contributed to the growth of the authority of the politician and military leader among ordinary dushmans, however, the personal ambitions of their leader often became an obstacle to uniting the forces of the anti-Soviet coalition. Due to friction between Hekmatyar and leaders of other groups, plans to create the Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan, the UnionMujahideen and other humanitarian humanitarian organizations.

IPA split

As often happens, the leader's desire for unlimited power led to a split within the party. Dissatisfied with Hekmatyar's ambitions, one of the authorities in the IPA, Burhanuddin Rabbani, leads away his supporters and creates his own movement - Jamiat e-Islomi.

This split was not the last, in 1979 Maulavi Yunus Khales quarreled violently with Gulbuddin and left the IPA. In order to annoy his former colleague more, he organized his own movement with exactly the same name - IPA.

One should not forget about the numerous inter-ethnic squabbles, the relevance of which was unchanged for a multinational country.

Hekmatyar's strategy

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's military detachments were numerous and operated in many areas of Afghanistan. IPA eagles were most active in Kabul province, Badakhshan, Nuristan, Kunduz.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar himself, as a military leader, was distinguished by a pragmatic approach to questions about combat methods. He preferred to avoid open combat clashes with the Soviet and government forces, which have superiority in heavy military equipment.

The authoritative Mujahideen perfectly established the military intelligence service, thus he was well aware of the state of affairs within the detachments of government forces, as well as groups of sworn friends in the Mujahideen coalition. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar at a high level organized a subversiveactivities against the enemy, actively bribing, luring individual units to their side. Sudden attacks on government troops, with the active support of a kind of fifth column in the rear, have become the hallmark of a successful strategist.

Struggle for power

After the departure of the Soviet troops, the Afghan government did not last long and soon fell under the blows of the Mujahideen. However, after the military victory over the enemy, the main problem for the former allies was to share power among themselves.

The old-timers of Kabul recall with horror the beginning of the nineties, when the warlords competing among themselves staged a real war for control of the city, and they were not particularly worried about the safety of the city itself and its inhabitants. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar took an active part in those events, wresting the post of prime minister in the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani from the hands of competitors.

Nickname history

Happiness was short-lived, he soon lost power. However, the leader of the IPA was not such as to retreat in the face of difficulties. Without thinking twice, he agreed on a coalition with the many-sided Rashid Dostum, with whom he went on the assault on Kabul in order to recapture it from the Pandsher lion Ahmad Shah Massoud. Apparently, in order to win the sympathy of voters, the politician did not hesitate to use such radical methods as shelling the capital of Afghanistan.

More than 4,000 civilians were killed, and all intact buildings in Kabulfinally destroyed. It is not surprising that after that, many Afghans called him none other than Gulbuddin the Butcher Hekmatyar.

Armistice Pact

In the mid-nineties, Pakistan made a bet in its political game on the Taliban, finally disappointed in the intractable leader of the IPA. Tom had to flee the country and settled in Iran. After the American invasion of Afghanistan and the overthrow of the Taliban, he became a vocal supporter of al-Qaeda and his former Taliban enemies, which led to his deportation from Iran.

However, many supporters of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose photo hung next to the portraits of Mulla Omar and Bin Laden, were not so implacable and compromised, agreeing to participate in the coalition government of Hamid Karzai.

The head of the IPA until recently did not recognize any possibility for negotiations with the Afghan authorities, calling the Kabul rulers puppets in the hands of America. However, the old man was apparently tortured by nostalgia for his native land, and in 2016 the world learned that the government of Afghanistan had signed a peace agreement with Gulbuddin.

He and his associates were promised a full amnesty, unfreezing of accounts blocked by the UN, removal of obstacles to movement around the world. In return, the Butcher of Kabul promised to recognize the constitution of the republic and lay down their arms. At the same time, no one even knows whether Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who carefully hides his location, is alive or not.