A new anti-Taliban resistance has been declared in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, located in the Hindu Kush about 95 miles north of Kabul. It is reportedly forming around three individuals: Amrullah Saleh, the former first vice president who yesterday declared himself the only legitimate leader of Afghanistan; Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Northern Alliance leader who was assassinated by Al Qaeda on Sept, 9, 2001; and Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, who had been appointed as defense minister by then-President Ashraf Ghani in June but who now supports Saleh as the leader of Afghanistan.
Yesterday afternoon, the Washington Post published under Massoud’s name an op-ed that is a transparent appeal for Western military support. “I write 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. We have stores of ammunition and arms that we have patiently collected since my father’s time, because we knew this day might come,” Massoud writes. “We also have the weapons carried by the Afghans who, over the past 72 hours, have responded to my appeal to join the resistance in Panjshir. We have soldiers from the Afghan regular army who were disgusted by the surrender of their commanders and are now making their way to the hills of Panjshir with their equipment. Former members of the Afghan Special Forces have also joined our struggle.”
