Graphic shows Taliban presence by district in Afghanistan and images of Ahmad Shah Massoud and Ahmad Massoud.
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MILITARY

Heir to “Lion of Panjshir” returns to Afghanistan

By Duncan Mil

September 5, 2019 - The son of Ahmad Shah Massoud -- the legendary Afghan mujahideen commander who fought both the Soviets and the Taliban -- is launching a new political coalition to counter the hardline Islamists.

The 30-year-old Ahmad Massoud aims to stop a resurgent Taliban from imposing a new wave of hardline Islam across the country, following an imminent U.S. deal to withdraw troops.

Massoud plans to officially launch his political movement on September 5 from Jangalak in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley. Massoud warns that a precipitous American troop pullout could lead to a collapse of government security forces.

Since July last year, the United States and the Taliban have held nine rounds of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, to end the 18-year-long Afghan war and pull troops out. The U.S. formally ended its Afghan combat mission in June 2014. However, around 14,000 U.S. troops remain in an “advise and assist” role.

Dubbed the “Lion of Panjshir”, Massoud the elder was assassinated by Al Qaeda suicide bombers on September 9, 2001*, as part of a pact with their hosts, the Taliban. Two days later, Al Qaeda attacked the United States, killing almost 3,000 people.

The seismic events of 9/11 triggered the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden and topple the Taliban -- Massoud’s son was 12 years old.

After his father’s death, Massoud finished his schooling in Iran and moved to Britain. He trained as an officer at Sandhurst military academy and graduated in War Studies at King’s College London before returning to Afghanistan in 2016.

Speaking to AFP Massoud warned that groups and militias in the Panjshir and elsewhere are re-arming ahead of a U.S. draw-down. “God forbid. But if it comes, not just myself, but there are hundreds of thousands of young people who are like me. We are ready to pick up guns,” Massoud said.

The Taliban are currently at their most active since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 and control 66 of Afghanistan’s 398 districts.

*Ahmed Shah Masood, guerrilla leader and politician, died of his injuries on September 15, 2001.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 02/09/2019; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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