A former warlord branded the “Butcher of Kabul” made a triumphant return to the Afghan capital Thursday, met by uneasy residents two decades after leaving the city where he stands accused of killing thousands of people.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister, has returned to mainstream political life after his dormant Hezb-i-Islami militant group signed a peace deal with President Ashraf Ghani which sparked revulsion from human rights groups and Kabul’s residents.
The peace agreement inked last September marked a symbolic victory for Ghani, who has struggled to revive talks with the more powerful Taliban, but it has also fuelled fears of more political division.
Ghani greeted Hekmatyar with pomp at the presidential palace Thursday. “Few people believed the peace efforts, would bear fruit, but today it is clear…that if there is sincere will and effort for peace it can be achieved,” he said.
Hekmatyar arrived at the palace after his convoy of several hundred vehicles, mainly pickup trucks equipped with machine guns, wound its way through Kabul’s main thoroughfares watched by hundreds of onlookers.
