How the resistance against the Taliban led by the new “lion of Panjshir” works

The Panjshir, “five lions” in Dari, is a spectacular valley in northern Afghanistan between mountains, steep rivers and a few impossible roads. It has also always been the land of resistance. The could never rule the invading armies, from Babur to Alexander, from the British to the Soviets. Foreigners controlled Kabul, but they were never able to enter these gorges which become impenetrable fortresses. The Taliban also could not control this territory when they ruled between 1996 and 2001 and now they have it. the first resistance since they took back power two weeks ago.

Fighters loyal to the local chief Ahmad Massoud they clashed this week in Panjshir with Taliban forces trying to advance. And like in all wars, here too the first victim is the truth. Each side has made conflicting statements on territorial gains and the number of casualties. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said “we have started operations after negotiations with the local armed group failed.” He adds that his fighters entered the valley and took control of part of the territory: “They suffered great losses.” On the contrary, a spokesman for the rebels of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA) assured that they had full control of all the marches and entrances of Panjshir and that they had repelled the Taliban who were trying to take control. control of a strategic passage. “The enemy made several attempts to enter Shotul from Jabul-Saraj and failed each time,” he said, referring to a town in neighboring Parwan province.

Ahmad Massoud, the top leader of the NRFA is endorsed by Amrullah Saleh, the first Afghan vice-president to declare himself interim president of the country after the flight of Ashraf Ghani. “Our people will not allow aggressors to invade their province neither will we abide by their rules“Massoud said in an interview with Foreign Policy this week. He left open the possibility of holding peace talks with the Taliban to reach a power-sharing deal, but clarified that “It may already be too late. There are no independent reports on how many fighters the resistance might have, but it is known that Hundreds of U.S.-trained former Afghan army officers join and that anti-Taliban forces from Herat and Kandahar have also arrived. “They can probably harvest a few thousand,” an intelligence source told The Guardian. “There are elite American-trained forces with them. But we don’t know if they could take with them sophisticated weaponry they have to resist, ”he explained.

Ahmad Massoud is a well-known figure throughout Afghanistan. is son of Ahmad Shah “the lion of Panjshir” Massoud, a national hero who led the previous resistance to the Taliban and the Soviets in the same territory and who was assassinated by two agents of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network posing as Jordanian journalists. The incident occurred on September 9, 2001, two days before the September 11 attacks, and was part of the plot and attack on the United States. Massoud Sr. was not only a great military strategist, but reigned entirely over the Panjshir with its 120,000 inhabitants spread over some 400 villages. He was personally responsible for supervising the infrastructure works and even wrote an instruction manual on how lessons should be taught in schools according to the most modern teaching methods and the space that each student should have between the desks. The first pro-Western president to take office at the end of 2001, Hamid Karzai declared September 9 a national holiday and called him “Amer Sāhib-e Shahīd” (our martyr commander).

Her son received an elite education in Britain. First at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst then graduate in war studies from the prestigious King’s College London. The MA in International Politics was completed at City University, London. He is 32 years old and looks a lot like his father. In a ceremony attended by the chiefs of all Panjshir tribes and held in front of his father’s mausoleum in November 2019, he was declared his official successor. The closest thing to a coronation in the Afghan Pashtun tradition.

Speculation about the resistance’s true firepower has already started. No one believes they can face the Taliban openly, let alone regain power in Kabul. But this prevents Islamist extremists from taking control of Panjshir. This area is strategic for training, for example, a bridgehead for possible American or Western attacks against the Taliban and other terrorist groups. Something that could get the United States and other great powers to start discreetly offer some kind of support to Massoud, and give the Western powers at least a small foot in Afghanistan to fight terrorism in Central Asia.

The government of Joe Biden gave no public signal on whether he would join the resistance front. Behind the scenes, US officials say it’s too early to tell. Washington is still recovering from its chaotic evacuation operation. He is also waiting to see if the Taliban will keep their promises to form a more inclusive government that respects the rights of its citizens and does not provide refuge to terrorist groups. Although there is great skepticism about this possibility.

Several members of Congress from Capitol Hill are already pushing for the delivery of aid which, as happened during the Mujahedin intervention against the Soviets in the 1980s and which He was portrayed in the 2007 film “Charlie Wilson’s War”. Directed by Mike Nichols. It told the story of Texas Representative Charlie Wilson and CIA Agent Gust Avrakotos, whose efforts led to the Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support pro-Western fighters. The screenplay for the film was written by Aaron Sorkin, based on George Crile’s book Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman played in it.

As in this case, there is a group of Republican lawmakers asking the Biden administration support Massoud as soon as possible. Senator Lindsey Graham and Representative Michael Waltz called on the president to recognize the opposition forces as legitimate representatives of Afghanistan and to support “Our friends from the Panjshir Valley, who will serve as a bulwark against regional terrorism.”

Yet military analysts believe that if there was to be any support it will not be formal. Alone a covert operation like the one organized by Wilson and Avrakotos. And a lot will depend on Massoud’s ability to withstand the Taliban offensive long enough and earn the same respect his father had earned around the world until he proves he is. the new lion of Panjshir.

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