Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is 77 years old as of October 2026. He was born on 1 August 1949.
Quick facts
Date of birth1 August 1949
Age77
NationalityAfghan
BirthplaceImam Sahib District, Afghanistan
Editor's Take:
Hekmatyar's career traces the contradictions of Afghanistan's long conflict. Backed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United States during the Soviet war, he led the best-funded mujahideen party, yet critics say he fought rival Afghans more than the Soviets. His shelling of Kabul in the early 1990s, and his later insurgency against the Karzai government, left him with a bitter reputation and a terrorist designation from Washington. Even so, he outlasted many rivals and returned through a negotiated pardon. His story matters because it shows how foreign patronage and factional rivalry shaped the country's path towards the Taliban.
Key Milestones
1975: Founded Hezb-i Islami after the Islamist movement split.
1993: Became Prime Minister of Afghanistan as part of a power-sharing effort.
1996: Took office as prime minister again shortly before the Taliban took Kabul.
2016: Received a pardon under a settlement between his party and Kabul.
2017: Returned to Kabul after about two decades away.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, and former mujahideen commander and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan political party.
Afghan politician and former mujahideen commander, born 1949
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was born in Imam Sahib District on 1 August 1949.
He was born in Kunduz province into a Kharoti Ghilji Pashtun family and studied engineering at Kabul University from 1969 to 1972 without finishing his degree.
In 1975 he founded Hezb-i Islami after a split in the Islamist student movement, and it grew into the largest of the mujahideen groups in the Soviet–Afghan War.
He served as prime minister of Afghanistan in 1993–1994 and briefly in 1996, and he signed a 2016 peace deal with the government of Ashraf Ghani.
Career highlights
1975Founds Hezb-i Islami: Splits from Rabbani and Massoud's wing
1992Moves on Kabul: His forces are expelled within days
1996Second premiership: Power-sharing deal with Rabbani
2003US terrorist designation: Assets in the US frozen
2016Peace deal signed: Pardoned by the Afghan government
Did you know?At the height of Western backing for the mujahideen, he met Margaret Thatcher at Downing Street.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's birthday is August 1. He was born on August 1, 1949 in Imam Sahib District, Afghanistan.
How old is Gulbuddin Hekmatyar?
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is 77 years old, and turns 78 on his next birthday, August 1.
Who shares a birthday with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar?
Famous people who share Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's August 1 birthday include Herman Melville, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Pierre Bourdieu and Georges Charpak.
