Afghan forces face challenge of absorbing former insurgents

Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar speaks during a welcoming ceremony at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan May 4, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

KABUL (Reuters) - Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami party is preparing to place thousands of fighters in Afghanistan's security forces, in one of the most complex parts of last year's peace deal between the Western-backed government and the former insurgent warlord.

Hizb-i-Islami has drawn up a list of 3,500 members of its militia for vetting and has handed over some 80 names, mostly senior officers, to a special commission set up to oversee the integration, said Karim Amin, one of Hekmatyar's closest aides.