US stands defeated in Afghanistan, fails to achieve strategic goals: Hekmatyar

(Karachi) Former prime minister of Afghanistan and leader of Hezb-e-Islami, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has said that the United States failed to achieve strategic goals in Afghanistan and has been defeated. He added the US administration had no other option but to seek a peaceful solution to Afghan conflict.

Addressing the participants at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) on Wednesday, Hekmatyar said it is a reality that America has been defeated in Afghanistan. "Since the US invasion of Afghanistan, at least one million Afghans were killed and six million became refugees," he maintained.

Recalling the Soviet invasion on Afghan soil, he said: "When the Soviet Union left Afghanistan its ‘puppet’ government remained in power in Kabul, leading to a civil war." He stated that the same mistake should not be repeated or it will have far reaching consequences.

"The US troops should not only withdraw but the government it established in Kabul must also go," the former Afghan PM mentioned.

He pointed out the United States invaded Afghanistan in a bid to take control of Afghan national resources and at the same time control the region from there. "However, none of those objectives were achieved as the US is facing the same fate as faced by the former Soviet Union," Hekmatyar said.

He said that Afghan soil must not be used as a proxy by regional and international powers. He agreed that external players such as India should not be allowed to use Afghan soil against Pakistan.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar arrived on a three-day visit to Pakistan on October 19. He met Prime Minister Imran Khan and appreciated Pakistan's positive role in facilitating the Afghan peace process.

He also thanked Pakistan for its long-standing contribution to the socio-economic development of Afghanistan and for hosting millions of Afghan refugees for more than four decades.