Atta Mohammad Noor, the governor of Balkh province on Friday accused Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hezb-e Islami, for cooperating with the Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan.
“You [Hekmatyar] have announced allegiance to Daesh. There is no doubt that you are cooperating and providing guidance to Daesh. You are somehow either directly or indirectly responsible for all these massacres,” Noor said while he was speaking at a gathering for Eid al-Adha in Balkh.
He warned to stand against Hekmatyar until he hasn’t denounced his support for the IS militant group.
In July 2015, reports circulated in the Afghan and international media that Hekmatyar has called on his followers to support the IS loyalists in the fight against the Taliban because the Taliban are “sworn enemies” of Hezb-e Islami.
But the party has always denied that it backed IS over the Taliban.
This is the second verbal attack by the powerful governor of Balkh against Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Last week, Noor lashed out at Hekmatyar for his anti-Masoud (the “National Hero” of Afghanistan) remarks and said “you are known as the Butcher of Kabul”.
By Hesamuddin Hesam, ariananews.af
