US Exit Filled with Vengefulness, Hatred Towards Afghans, Says Former PM Gulbuddin Hekmatyar

The American troops damaged the equipment and facilities beyond repair, the foreign withdrawal was contrary to all humanitarian standards, said Afghanistan’s former prime minister and Hezb-e-Islami party leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

In an exclusive interview with News18, Hekmatyar while talking about America’s tumultuous exit from war-torn Afghanistan, said, “ the manner of the foreign withdrawal was appalling and contrary to all humanitarian standards. It was coupled with savagery, bloodshed, and destruction. American troops have damaged the equipment and facilities of the airport beyond repair.”

He accused the US government of complete destruction before the chaotic departure, which is said to be a result of baffling diplomatic decisions.

“After complete destruction of equipment and facilities, in the dead of the night and without any notice to the Afghan government. The last days of their presence in Afghanistan were tainted with hundreds of deaths, injuries, destruction and devastation,” Hekmatyar said.

He also highlighted America’s brutal response after the twin bomb blasts near the Kabul airport that killed 13 American soldiers, and said, “US military reacted savagely and vindictively. They brutally and indiscriminately opened fire on civilians who were camped near the airport trying to fly out and seek refuge in foreign countries, the casualties of which were more than a hundred dead and more than two hundred injured.”

Terming the American exit as ‘hatred towards Afghans’, he added that their departure was filled with vengefulness.

With Ghani and his deputy Amrullah Saleh fleeing to Tajikistan, former President Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah and Hekmatyar together created a committee to oversee a smooth transition of power to the Taliban. A dreaded figure in Afghanistan, earning the monicker the ‘Butcher of Kabul’, Hekmatyar contested the 2019 presidential election where Ghani had emerged victorious. An influential Afghan political leader claimed the presidential election was ‘fraudulent’ and his party was batting for transparent polls.

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