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17 Hezb-e-Islami militants surrender in Afghanistan

KHOST: Seventeen members of the Hezb-e-Islami militant group have laid down their arms and surrendered to Afghan authorities in the southeast of the country, an official said Thursday.

However, it was unclear if any members of the militant organisation would be eligible for a government amnesty offered to the Taliban.

The Hezb-e-Islami is led by former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who is on the United States’ most wanted list of terror suspects. “Seventeen commanders of Hezb-e-Islami from different districts of Paktia and Khost provinces returned from Pakistan and joined the political process,” Merajudeen Patan, Khost Governor, told reporters at a press conference.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai offered an amnesty to rank and file Taliban fighters last year and said all but a hardcore of 150 militants wanted for human rights violations would be able to rejoin the political process.

Mahmood Khan, a 51-year-old commander from Samkay district of Paktia province who headed the group of 17 militants, said he was hoping to play an active role in rebuilding Afghanistan. “We returned to Afghanistan to participate in the reconstruction process of the country,” Khan said. He said that he had remained in exile in Pakistan since the collapse of the Taliban in 2001 because he was afraid of being arrested by US-led forces.

“We have never participated in attacks against coalition forces or the Afghan government but we were afraid someone would give false information about us to the US and we would be arrested,” Khan told AFP.

Khan said the group had not had any contact with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the last three years.

Merajudeen Patan also confirmed that Malim Jan, a Taliban commander alleged to have organised attacks against Afghan and US-led forces, had surrendered to US troops.

“Malim Jan is now with coalition forces in Chapman Base,” he told AFP.

In addition, three middle ranking Taliban joined the reconciliation process in the Zarmat district of Paktia earlier this week.

Hayo Gull Sleman Khel, chief of Paktia Police, named the three as; Mullah Ahmad Shah, district officer of Zarmat in the Taliban regime; Mullah Nawab, head of the Zarmat Madrasa; and a third, Mullah Hamidullah.

He said the trio were well-known in Zarmat, a hotbed for Taliban attacks, and were involved in recent strikes on coalition forces.

Defections resulting from the amnesty have gathered momentum in recent weeks with the surrender of significant figures.

Habib-ur Rehman, who headed the criminal investigation department at the ministry of interior under the Taliban, handed himself over on April 21 and this followed the surrender of two Taliban commanders a day earlier.

Three years after the ousting of the Taliban by a US-led international coalition force, the remnants of the regime are still waging a guerrilla insurgency in the south and southeast of the country. afp

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