Afghan militant leader says US to be driven out

Afghan militant leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said US troops will be driven out of Afghanistan and Iraq like they were in Somalia, according to a statement obtained today.

Hekmatyar, who heads the outlawed Hezb-e-Islami party, also offered praise for dead al Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the statement, which could not be immediately authenticated.

“The martyrdom of al-Zarqawi will not weaken the resistance and as the Americans were expelled from Somalia, they will be expelled from Afghanistan and Iraq,” according to the statement.