South Asia Studies Project

May 18, 2012 Special Dispatch No.4743 On Eve Of Chicago NATO Summit, Hekmatyar Denounces Afghan-U.S. Strategic Pact, Calls For Unified Military Front of Militant Groups, States: 'We Will Continue Jihad Till the Complete Withdrawal Of Foreign Troops and the Establishment Of... Islamic Government In An Independent Afghanistan' Following are excerpts from an interview with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the fugitive chief of Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan, published by a Pashtu-language Pakistani newspaper on the eve of the May 20-21 NATO Summit in Chicago. The interview comes at a time when Hizb-e-Islami, the second-largest terrorist group in Afghanistan, is negotiating with the Taliban and other militant groups over forming a unified political and military front of all Islamic groups in Afghanistan. The aim of such a front would be to strengthen the jihadi forces in order to take on the Afghan government after U.S. and NATO troops withdraw from the country by the end of 2014. The full text of this report is available to MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Subscribers. Subscription information is available at this link. JTTM subscribers can visit this page to view the report.