The United States faces a Soviet-style humiliation in Afghanistan, a fugitive Afghan warlord claimed in a video message while taunting Pakistan for aiding US-led counterterrorism operations.
In a recording obtained by The Associated Press in Pakistan, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar also accused Washington of fomenting conflict among Afghan ethnic groups on a scale comparable with the strife in Iraq.
“Everyone knows that the American aggressors are faced with defeat in every part of the country,” Hekmatyar said. “They were unable to achieve their goals by bombing innocent Afghans. They are preparing to leave like the
Soviet troops.” Hekmatyar leads a militant faction along with Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters for an intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan, despite an expanding presence of foreign troops.
US and NATO officials insist they can still defeat the insurgents, while calling for an acceleration of reconstruction projects and warning that time is running out to persuade Afghans that the country is heading for a stable democratic future.
-STEPHEN GRAHAM
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