A week after an attack on his office that left two people dead, Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar at a gathering on Friday called on his supporters to be ready “for a new possible fight” against any party involved in the attack on Hizb-e-Islami’s compound in Kabul.
“We are forced to decide as we fought against two invaders [the Soviet Union and NATO] and fulfilled our responsibility. We ask all our fighters to be ready for another fight,” Hekmatyar said.
Two gunmen attacked the Hizb-e-Islami compound in the west of Kabul on December 2 while Hekmatyar was preaching at a mosque during Friday prayers.
Two people, including a security guard and a civilian, were killed in the attack.
“The investigation around last Friday’s attack has not been completed yet and it is too early to blame any group for it [the attack]. We will hold them accountable after identifying the perpetrators,” Hekmatyar said.
He said that initial reports show the attackers were Tajikistan nationals who were killed during the incident.
He added that the attackers left behind some evidence and documents that were under investigation.
Hekmatyar claimed that the attack was planned to directly target the mosque where he was delivering his speech.
“One of the attackers was wearing a suicide vest. He was shot dead by one of our guards before he could press the button and detonate his explosives. If he could manage to blow himself up, all the evidence would have been destroyed,” Hekmatyar said.
Regarding the existence of a Daesh flag with the attackers, Hekmatyar stated that it was too early to blame a group for the attack but added that the flag was probably placed to mislead the identification of attackers.
Referring to Hizb-e-Islami’s fight against NATO forces, Hekmatyar claimed that he did not receive any financial support from foreign countries during the last 20 years.
He, however, stated that he received support from many countries during the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
