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2023-04-29 Afghanistan
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Interview: Young lion of Panjshir fights Afghanistan’s 'epic prison'
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A taste: [TheNationalNews] Ahmad Massoud tells The National he is trying to convince the West that his people need support to defy Taliban
 ...Arabic for students ...
rule.
National Resistance Front
Ahmad Massoud was only 12 when his father, one of Afghanistan’s greatest leaders, was assassinated by Al Qaeda jacket wallahs.
Since then the Taliban has been banished, followed by 20 years of democracy only to be demolished by the bully boys’ resurgence in 2021.
But during that time the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud gained military experience at Britannia’s Sandhurst military academy and studied for a master's degree in international politics.
His aura of authority was evident when, as the youngest person on the platform of a conference on Afghanistan in Vienna, it appeared that he had inherited his father’s stature to lead.
Asked in an interview with The National for his thoughts on western overtures to the Taliban, Mr Massoud, now 33, offered a resigned smile, one perhaps reserved for admonishing a child.
"You cannot wash dirt with dirt," he suggested to emphasise that if the international community thought it co-opt the Taliban with money and hints of diplomatic ties to resist forces like ISIS, it was gravely mistaken.
The faceless myrmidons who seized Afghanistan 20 months ago are deeply attached to a brutal autocratic government that uses hard drugs for income and harbours a number of terrorist groups yet to be unleashed on the wider world.
Until now there has been little internal opposition to their harsh rule. But the capable Mr Massoud has managed to pull together a diverse coalition of Afghans that represent a more palatable alternative government.
That unity was demonstrated in Vienna this week when Tajiks shared a platform with Pashtuns, Uzbeks and Hazaris at a three-day conference on Afghanistan.
As leader of the National Resistance® Front (NRF), Mr Massoud — sometimes referred to as the "Young Lion of Panjshir" — leads the largest group that is showing signs of forming a resilient military and political opposition.
With its attention diverted by Ukraine and still humiliated by defeat in Afghanistan, he warned the West it must not ignore Afghanistan's plight.
"Afghanistan has become an epic prison for its people and a safe haven for terrorist groups" and was also a country that could also revisit the "catastrophic" events of the past, he said.
SON OF PANJSHIR
When the Taliban crushed government forces in 2021 they swept through the formerly impregnable Panjshir valley. That aura of invincibility was born under the enigmatic leadership of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the "Lion of Panjshir", who had defeated the Soviets and repulsed the first Taliban regime.
Sharing the same looks as his father and the recognisable brown woollen pakol headdress, Mr Massoud possesses a sharp intelligence and polite charisma.
During his interview at a large Austrian town house, where armed police stood guard outside, he said he was not embittered by the West’s lack of interest in the Taliban's opposition but added that the US and its allies should pay heed.
Therefore, did it surprise him that no agencies from any western powers had been in contact?
"Of course it is a surprise because if they think that they can trust the Taliban over the democratic forces," he said.
"It's like cleaning ISIS with the Taliban, then what are you going to do with the Taliban? It’s the same ideology and the same problem. It’s not going to work and will demoralise all our democratic forces who will then lose respect to the West." 
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Posted by trailing wife 2023-04-29 00:00||
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