At least 200 people welcomed Hekmatyar on Saturday in Afghanistan’s eastern Laghman province, where he was conducting meetings with members of his team for the past two days.
Hekmatyar was once designated as a ‘terrorist’ by the US [Fatima Faizi/Al Jazeera]
“Ask the militants who are they fighting with? The government? The people – the innocent people of Afghanistan?” Hekmatyar said at the public gathering.
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This is Taliban Country (25:00)
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“If you lay down your guns and come forward, I will be the first one to call you my brother. To the Taliban, [I say] come forward, let’s talk about peace and prosperity, and join us in this peace process in Afghanistan.”
Hekmatyar is expected to make a speech in the coming days in Kabul, where many Afghans have mixed feelings about his return.
Large posters of Hekmatyar and his group members were seen lying torn on streets.
“Dwelling on the past events will bring nothing to this country. If we hold on to what he did in the past, we will never move forward,” Zakariya Safari, who was present at the gathering said.
“But at the same time, we cannot be sure whether Hekmatyar’s return will bring any peace to the country because it is not as easy as it sounds.
