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Afghan militant vows to fight onArmy chief says defeating insurgents will take time
SPECIAL REPORTRELATEDYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSWASHINGTON (CNN) -- A maverick Afghan militant issued defiant anti-U.S. rhetoric and support for al Qaeda in a videotape message on Thursday, the same day an Afghan military commander acknowledged that it "will take time" to defeat the "various insurgent groups." The video of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar -- the founder and leader of Afghanistan's Hizb-e-Islami and a former Afghan prime minister -- aired on Al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language TV station. Hekmatyar is regarded by the Pentagon as one of the top military players in Afghanistan. Ironically, he was the beneficiary of $600 million U.S. aid during the Afghan war against the Soviets during the 1980s. His appearance may be an indication that he can fight, rally supporters and recruit jihadis. U.S., Afghan and other forces have been battling Taliban remnants and other militants in Afghanistan in the war on terror since they ousted the Taliban government after the September 11, 2001, attack on the United States. Even though he is not a member of the Taliban, Hekmatyar pledged support for al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and promised to carry on the fight alongside them against the "infidels." He also called on other Afghans to join the fight against the U.S.-led coalition. The same call was made in Hekmatyar's previous video message, aired on Al-Jazeera on December 11, 2003. After September 11, 2001, U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban-controlled government harboring al Qaeda leaders and fighters, and embarked on a mission to establish a democratic government and wipe out the militants. However, the militants have been tenacious ever since. Hekmatyar's rhetoric was similar to that of bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, and al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, all of whom delivered statements in the last week of April. Hekmatyar castigated the "Americans and their European allies," saying, "They are the ones who start wars. They waged a war against Muslims in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq." Their aim, he said, was to rule Muslim countries directly or by proxy, steal their wealth and weaken them. Hekmatyar claimed "Pakistani and Iranian traitors" helped the United States succeed in Afghanistan and Iraq "quickly" and "with such ease." "The Iranians have helped the crusaders both in Afghanistan and Iraq. The unfortunate occupation wouldn't have happened if it weren't for them, and the crusaders wouldn't have lasted 'til now," Hekmatyar said. Referring to former Iranian prime minister Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Hekmatyar said, "Rafsanjani said it himself that he would cooperate with the Americans and that he did." Non-conventional warfareLt. Gen. Sher Karimi, chief of operations for the Afghan National Army, told reporters in a Pentagon teleconference that militants have established sanctuaries and support in and near the country and that rooting them out will be a challenge. He said that al Qaeda and Taliban forces pose a non-conventional warfare challenge. Karimi spoke of groups of "five to 10 people operating in a very rugged terrain, a very difficult terrain. And also they have sanctuaries on both sides of the border. There are people who support them, local people, through intimidation and through misguidance given to them in the name of religion." Karimi said defeating such a well-entrenched group "will take time." "It's not easy to eliminate such people. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack. So it takes time, and we need very good intelligence," Karimi said. "And I think intelligence training and intelligence work is more important in an insurgency than having a real big force to use in an area." He said it was important to use a well-trained, smaller force to deal with such a challenge. CNN's Octavia Nasr and Peter Bergen contributed to this report 
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