Despite claiming to have the resources needed to mount an effective resistance, Afghanistan’s most famous anti-Taliban fighter’s son has asked the United States to supply weapons and ammunition to his militia. Ahmad Massoud wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday in The Washington Post, ‘America can still be a great arsenal for democracy’ if it supports his fighters. ‘I write to you from the Panjshir Valley today, ready to follow in my father’s footsteps, with mujahideen fighters who are prepared to once again take on the Taliban,’ he said.
The Lion of Panjshir, Ahmad Shah Massoud’s father, led the strongest resistance against the Taliban from his stronghold in the valley northeast of Kabul until his assassination in 2001. As a result of its natural defenses, the redoubt nestled into the Hindu Kush mountains survived the war against the Taliban in 1990, as well as Soviet occupation a decade earlier, and is now Afghanistan’s last remaining stronghold.
Following in his ‘father’s footsteps,’ Massoud said he has been joined by members of the Afghan army and special forces who were shocked by their commanders’ surrender. Amrullah Saleh, the defiant vice president of Afghanistan, met with Massoud in social media images, and it appears that the duo is assembling the first pieces of a guerilla movement to take on the Taliban. ‘The army needs additional weapons, ammunition and supplies’, Massoud said.
Since hardline Islamist militants swept into the capital on Sunday, ending two decades of war and rout of government forces, tens of thousands have fled Afghanistan. More than 6,000 people – including US citizens and Afghans – have been evacuated by the US military, with the government urging the Taliban to allow safe passage for people to flee. Taliban’s threat extends beyond Afghanistan’s borders, Massoud said, ‘Under Taliban control, Afghanistan will become a hotbed of radical Islamist terrorism; plots against democracies will be hatched here again’. Massoud said his fighters are ready for the coming conflict, but need American assistance.
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The Taliban have been showing off the weapons, equipment and munitions they have seized from Afghan forces, most of them supplied by the United States. Taliban fighters were seen armed with M4 and M18 assault rifles, M24 snipers’ weapons and driving around in the iconic US Humvees in images posted on social media. President Joe Biden’s hasty withdrawal has been criticized in light of the seizures. Massoud said that after 20 years the US and Afghanistan have shared ‘ideas and struggles,’ and he urged Washington to continue to support the ’cause of freedom’ rather than abandon Afghans to the Taliban. ‘You are our only hope’, he said.
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