Hekmatyar’s close aide assassinated in Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - A close aide of former Afghan rebel leader and Hizb-e-Islami chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has been assassinated on Tuesday in Pakistan’s northwestern Peshawar city, police said.

Haji Farid, reported as Naqeeb Mohammad by the police, was gunned down by two assailants riding a motorbike when he was on his way after offering Fajr (morning) prayers in Pasthkhira area, the city’s police chief told Anadolu Agency.

“The deceased was an Afghan national. That’s what I can tell you for now,” said the police chief Shoaib Ahmad. A case has been registered and further investigation was in progress, he added.

Hizb-e-Islami spokesman Nader Afghan also confirmed to Afghan media the death of Haji Farid in Peshawar.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but security officials see the incident as part of internal rifts among different Afghan groups.

A senior Afghan Taliban leader and a former governor of Kabul Maulvi Daud was also assassinated in Peshawar in April.

Hekmetyar returned to Kabul last month after a gap of 20 years following a landmark peace accord between the Afghan government and his Hezb-e-Islami party in September.

The Hezb-e-Islami is ideologically inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and the Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan, and was formed by Hekmatyar in the mid-1970s.

Hekmatyar left Kabul in 1997 when the Taliban captured the capital.