Islamabad, 25 December 2002 (RFE/RL) -- Northeastern Afghanistan militia leader Gulbuddin Hikmatyar (pictured) said today that he is heightening his jihad or holy struggle against antiterror coalition forces and peacekeepers in Afghanistan. In a Pashtun-language message distributed in Pakistan by his followers, Hikmatyar said his fighters are allied with those of the defeated Taliban and the Al-Qaeda terror network.
U.S. Special Forces are operating in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar Province, seeking to flush out fugitive Al-Qaeda fighters and Hikmatyar's followers. Hikmatyar heads the Hizb-i Islami party.
Meanwhile, at the United Nations yesterday, the Security Council gave unanimous backing to the Kabul Declaration, a nonaggression pact signed by Afghanistan and its neighbors.
China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan's transitional government signed the declaration.
U.S. Special Forces are operating in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar Province, seeking to flush out fugitive Al-Qaeda fighters and Hikmatyar's followers. Hikmatyar heads the Hizb-i Islami party.
Meanwhile, at the United Nations yesterday, the Security Council gave unanimous backing to the Kabul Declaration, a nonaggression pact signed by Afghanistan and its neighbors.
China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan's transitional government signed the declaration.