Afghan Biographies

Khan, Haji Kashmir


Name Khan, Haji Kashmir
Ethnic backgr. Pashtun
Date of birth
Function/Grade Kunar Warlord
History and Biodata

3. Biodata:
After the Taliban took charge in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1994, Commander Kashmir Khan from Nurzai Noorzai tribe opposed the Taliban regime and fought several battles with the Taliban. Kashmir Khan belonged to the Shura Nizami (military council) of Hezb-e Islami.

Human Rights Watch, quoting the Afghan Support Project, reports that the Hezb-e Islami attacked Kabul through regular rocket bombardment, causing extensive civilian casualties, and damage to property. In 2002 the Hezb-e Islami is reported to have split, with the hard-line Islamists, including Kashmir Khan, remaining with the party's leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Other former senior members are reported to have wished to join in the democratic process.

On August 29, 2002 the Asia Times reported: "If American forces venture into Kunar they will be against tremendous odds. Kashmir Khan - the most powerful Hezb-e-Islami commander - keeps his base in the mountains of Kunar. Haji S says that 'even the Taliban at the time did not disturb him. He is not interested in ideology or politics. He is interested in power.' This also means that Kashmir Khan is unbribable by the Americans."

Kashmir Khan was reported to have been in negotiations with the Hamid Karzai government on February 22, 2005. The Asia Times reported, on February 8, 2006, that Khan was alive, and still serving as a commander for the Hezb-e Islami. Khan is a second tier commander of Hezb-e Islami party. Human Rights Watch is listing him as a Human Rights Abuser.

 

Kashmir Khan, the person in charge of Hekmatyar’s military council, said that instead of holding talks with foreigners groups he favored intra-Afghan talks. He said that so far the Government and the High Peace Council have not responded to its demands. Khan, who is said to be leading Hekmatyar’s fronts in Nuristan and Kunar, where the militants often fight with the foreign forces, said that if their demands are met, the group is ready to start official peace talks with the Government. Khan said that the group will participate in the upcoming election if the poll is held under the auspices of an interim Government and that if a new election plan is developed under such an administration.(20130130)
 

Prominent Gulbadin Hikmatyar-led Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) commander Haji Kashmir Khan has died in a hospital in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an official said on Sunday.

The police chief for eastern Kunar province, Brig. Gen. Abdul Habib Syedkhel, confirmed the demise of HIA top commander.(20160724)

 

Last Modified 2019-01-31
Established 2009-11-06