The main road in Panjshir divides the valley in two. On its sides, the tall mountains host impervious planes, and numerous hiding places by way of deep caves hidden under the heavy winter snows. This territory is home to the NRF, the Afghani National Resistance Front. Day by day, the Taliban convoys attempt to pass through the valley. However, are pushed back by the surprise attacks led by NRF’s commander Ahmad Massoud.
“We’re still alive and we’re ready to take our country back” says NRF spokesperson Ali Maisam Nazary with an air of certainty. Since the fall of Kabul on August 15th 2021, the rebel groups have taken arms and moved to the Panjshir territory. Italian Jihadism expert and analyst Daniele Garofalo says that “a direct front was impossible. The Taliban’s are originally from the southern areas of Afghanistan, but they now benefit from new affiliates from the north who are familiar with the battle grounds.”
The NRF is led by Ahmad Massoud, son of general Massoud, “the Lion of Panjshir”. Ahmad Massoud is an Islamic progressivist, who “fights for an Islamic doctrine founded upon justice and equality, unlike that of the Taliban”.
The Taliban governors have taken over the military equipment left behind by the NDS, the national intelligence and security service in Afghanistan. With the help of this technology, they were able to trace and assassin 400 members of the old Afghani government.
After the downfall of Kabul
On January 1st, Taliban forces destroyed the border fence along the Durand line that marks the border with Pakistan. In early September, a few weeks after the downfall of Kabul, international press reported that Panjshir had been conquered by the Talibans. However, according to Nazary, “they were all fake news. There are no more journalists venturing in these territories. The news that make it out to the public are reported by mercenary chroniclers funded by Pakistan”.
While the control of the territory is divided upon two sides and the protests, characterized especially by women, inflame the streets of the province, the neighbouring states are still expecting important confirmations. Russia is still waiting and wants to find out if the Taliban will assume the role of an anti – terroristic force. Tajikistan, after the announcement of the official resistance in favor of NRF, is blocked from the political and international power of the surrounding nations. “In spring we will relaunch the conquest of Afghanistan” says Nazary.
<<It’s not a civil war>>
The liberation army is patient and is collecting military and economic provisions, some transferred in American bank accounts. The snow is melting and the attacks continue to intensify. According to Daniele Garofalo: “if the NRF would be able to win the battle, this could bring to a turn”. Before the counter-offensive, Massoud aspires to receive international support, or better a strategic military support, but mainly the recognition of their legitimacy. Christopher Costa, intelligence officer and ex assistant of the president of the united states and director of the anti-terrorism committee of the national council of security until 2018, declared: “The United States can still practice their leadership and establish terms to diminish the pains of the Afghans. The US owe this commitment towards the population of Afghanistan”. For Nazary “It’s not a civil war. It’s the war of terror that the west abandoned.”
