PESHAWAR: The Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-i-Islami are on a collision course owing to the latter’s peace deal with the Afghan government in September of 2016. The Hezb-i-Islami is now an ally of the government of President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr Abdullah. The move has made it an enemy of the Taliban who consider the incumbent Afghan government a puppet regime of the west. Although Gulbuddin Hekmatyar cannot appear in Kabul because of the inclusion of his name in the blacklist of the United Nations, his party is bound by an agreement with the government under which it is liable to support the existing political setup in the country. Taliban’s growing anger towards the famed mujahid’s party is evident from the recent suicide attack in Kabul on the house of Muallim Mir Wali, an MP from the Helmand province who was previously a part of Hezb-i-Islami during the Afghan resistance against the invading Soviet forces in the 1980s. Though Taliban claimed to have attacked participants of a security meeting in Mir Wali’s house, the death of women and children has given rise to anger against the Taliban and deepened the fissures between the two groups. The attack has also caused Hezb-i-Islami’s military commanders and MPs to issue a statement condemning the brutal attack and criticising the Taliban for attacking a house with women and children inside. The group claimed that the attack was reflective of the hatred and enmity of the Taliban. Recently, there occurred two attacks on Hezb-i-Islami members, and although no one claimed responsibility for the attacks, many see Taliban as being behind the two attacks. In one incident, unidentified gunmen shot dead a former Hezb-i-Islami commander, Qand Agha, in the Baghlan province in Khwajagan village. In another incident, a Hezb-i-Islamic commander was recently gunned down in Kapisa province. Meanwhile, Taliban continue to strictly implement the draconian judgments of their courts in Afghanistan, carrying out public hangings, lashings, stoning and amputations. Those punished include persons accused of murder, theft, adultery, drinking liquor and spying for the Afghan government or the US-led foreign forces. Although, Taliban doling out these punishments with impunity reflects their power in the region, their feud with Hekmatyar’s Hezb-i-Islami might change the dynamics of the situation in the region. As the two groups carry out increasing attacks on each other, they will lose precious ground in the war-torn country. Only time will tell which among the two will hold supreme in Afghanistan.