Luke Coffey (left) and Ahmad Massoud

 

Afghanistan Needs a Decentralized Government, Says NRF Leader Ahmad Massoud
By Elaine Pasquini

Washington: When American troops left Afghanistan and the Taliban took over on August 15, 2021, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) was the only credible and non-extremist armed opposition to the Taliban.

“The NRF is the Afghans’ resistance against the terrorism and continuation of war and terror [of the Taliban],” NRF leader Ahmad Massoud told Luke Coffey of the Hudson Institute in a December 7 virtual interview.

Massoud is the 33-year-old son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the iconic freedom fighter and commander of the Northern Alliance who was assassinated by al-Qaeda on September 9, 2001. The elder Massoud fought against the Soviets in the 1980s and then the Taliban beginning in 1996.

The younger Massoud, educated at Great Britain’s Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and King’s College, London, didn’t enter Afghan politics until 2019, but “has already made his mark on the history of Afghanistan,” Coffey stated.

After the Taliban took over in August last year and refused to talk with Afghans interested in forming an inclusive government and then began using military force, the resistance started from its base in the Panjshir Valley, Massoud related. At that time, the northern province was one of the only places not under Taliban control. The valley, near the Hindu Kush Mountain range, is historically known for resisting outside invaders and withstood many attacks by the Soviets. “This is why Panjshir is important, and this is where we are operating right now,” Massoud explained.

In the past one and a half years the group has grown from a few hundred members in Panjshir to almost 5,000 consisting of former members of the Afghan forces, loyal comrades of his father and other anti-Taliban fighters. The resistance has expanded to Bamiyam, Baghlan, Parwan, Kapisa and other provinces. Although low on resources and without international support “…we exist,” Massoud stated. “The resistance is growing, and it is growing because [Taliban] atrocities are growing.”

In the years prior to the American withdrawal, Massoud explained, he tried to raise awareness on the “fragility of the situation in Afghanistan” during trips to the UK, Europe – especially a meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron in 2020 – and in meetings with the American delegation, primarily Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad who was the [US] envoy at that time. “I also tried to talk to Afghan elites, politicians and Afghan government officials but unfortunately, even though they shared our concerns, the effort to prevent it was minimal,” he added.

Not wanting to leave his homeland after the Taliban came to power because “that means I am betraying my people,” Massoud went to the Panjshir Valley, he said, knowing, however, the appetite for military assistance from the West and the region was “almost non-existent… and wouldn’t be joining hands with us against the Taliban.”

The Americans made “a political decision” to leave Afghanistan, he continued. “There was a rush in making the decision to leave Afghanistan, even though the loss of American soldiers’ lives was quite low for the length of time they were there.”

Noting that in the past year the NRF has been more visible on the international stage – attending a gathering in October in Vienna with representatives of other anti-Taliban groups and a meeting of the Herat security dialogue in Tajikistan, Coffey asked Massoud to talk about the reception he and his team are receiving from governments, congress, parliaments and civil society.

Attending these events, Massoud explained, was part of NRF’s political strategy which is “to bring unity among those who are opposed to the current situation of the Taliban and create a path for a solution, for what we want for the future.”

The future Afghans want, he stressed, is “to have a dignified life, and we want just like everybody else to have the right to live peacefully and in harmony with the world.”

Asked by Coffey about the transnational terrorist threat in Afghanistan, Massoud responded: “Unfortunately, it is becoming a hub for terrorism. After the Taliban took over there was a day-to-day escalation of violence. We see how Afghanistan is becoming a safe haven for a lot of these groups,” he said. “Now more than 20 regional terrorist groups exist in Afghanistan.”

As to what he would like from policymakers in the US, Massoud said he would like “Washington to stay with the people of Afghanistan. This is the demand of the people of Afghanistan, not just the NRF.” The values that drove Americans to invade Afghanistan in the first instance should compel them to stand with Afghans now, he theorized.

Massoud insists the only legitimate government in Afghanistan is one that represents all of the people and all of the views of the different groups in Afghanistan. “We must have a government through a meaningful, legitimate path and that should be elections,” he insisted. “The people must decide their own fate and future.”

“Based on the history of Afghanistan…and based on experiences we have had, we believe a centralized government in a multicultural state like Afghanistan does not work,” he said. A decentralized system is going to be the solution to all Afghanistan’s problems…and “is exactly what we want for the people of Afghanistan.”

“For long-term, what we want for our country is a government and regime that the people of Afghanistan decide for themselves,” Massoud said. “First and foremost, the people, their freedom and their right to determine their own future is a fundamental value.”

(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)