Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Commander, Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan
"We did not fight the Soviets to replace them with the Americans."
Biography
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was born in Imam Sahib district in 1949 and became politically active as an Islamist student at Kabul University, where he reportedly ordered the acid-throwing attack on unveiled women. He fled to Pakistan in 1974 and built Hezb-e-Islami into the most powerful Mujahideen political party, receiving the largest share of CIA and ISI funding throughout the war — hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons and cash. Despite this, his forces were widely regarded as among the least effective fighters against the Soviets.
Did you know?
Hekmatyar reportedly threw acid on unveiled women at Kabul University in the early 1970s — an act that defined his extremist ideology long before the Soviet invasion made him a CIA asset.
Key Battles
Battle of Zhawar
Afghan Mujahideen victoryApril 1985 · 600 total casualties
Fall of Najibullah
Afghan Mujahideen victoryApril 1992 · 5,000 total casualties
Life Journey
Timeline
August 1, 1949
🌅 Birth
Born in Imam Sahib, Kunduz Province
1968–1972
📚 Education
Radical Islamist student activist at Kabul University
1974
📍 Posting
Flees to Pakistan; begins building Hezb-e-Islami with ISI support
1980–1989
⚔️ Battle
Commands Hezb-e-Islami; receives largest share of CIA/ISI weapons funding
1992–1996
🕊️ Postwar
Shells Kabul as rival factions fight; Prime Minister briefly in 1993 and 1996
May 2016
🕊️ Postwar
Returns to Kabul after peace deal; removed from US terrorist designation