Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
May 31, 2017
Gunmen in northwestern Pakistan on May 30 gunned down a close aide and relative of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan militant leader who signed a peace deal with the government last year, officials said.
Hekmatyar’s Hezb-i Islami party identified the slain man as Mohammad Fareed and blamed “elements against peace” for the killing.
Fareed was returning home from a mosque in the Taj Abad area of Peshawar when the gunmen opened fire, Peshawar police said.
“He died on the spot and the assailants made their good escape on motorcycles,” officer Shaid Ahmad told Reuters.
Fareed was a relative by marriage to Hekmatyar and also was Hekmatyar’s personal secretary.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Hekmatyar has rivalries with multiple Afghan militant factions.
Hekmatyar battled U.S. and Afghan forces after the U.S. invasion in 2001, but signed a peace deal with the Afghan government that enabled him to return to Kabul last month.
Upon his return, he urged Taliban insurgents to follow his example.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters