Desperate Afghans Fight Back Against Taliban, Resistance Scores Big Underdog Victory
As President Joe Biden continues to grapple this week with the disastrous fallout from the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on Sunday, the Afghan people appear to have begun the process of taking matters into their own hands.
Of course, they’ve had two decades to do so, but although the NATO-backed forces weren’t enough to stand up to the Taliban over the last few weeks as the terror group swept across the country, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of weapon-wielding Afghans who refuse to take this siege sitting down.
And you know what? Considering they’ve been blamed by “the buck stops with me” Biden over the last week for the caliphate insurgency that just took over their own country, good for them.
On Friday, reports began to circulate that the Afghan flag had been hoisted once again in the Pol-e-Hesar, Deh Salah and Banu districts of Baghlan province after anti-Taliban resistance fighters recaptured the localities.
Newsweek reported that about 60 Taliban fighters were injured in the fighting that proceeded these small victories, while the Afghan outlet Asvaka News Agency reported that “a number” of Taliban were killed.
#Breaking
Pol-e-Hesar, Deh Salah and Banu districts in #Baghlan provinces have been captured by the Public’s Resistance Forces, & a number of Taliban killed & injured.
Local reporters from Baghlan pic.twitter.com/tW1ENliWOK— Aśvaka – آسواکا News Agency (@AsvakaNews) August 20, 2021
Earlier in the day, the Indian outlet Republic World reported that Pol-e-Hesar had been freed from Taliban control while an “intense fight” was underway in Deh Salah and Banu. This came even as the Taliban was meeting with Afghan military leader Ahmad Massoud.
BIG #BREAKING | One district freed from Taliban rule as anti-Taliban resistance gathers momentum; casualty reported even as Taliban meeting with Ahmad Massoud underway. Watch fast-paced developments #LIVE here https://t.co/3AdouRdizw pic.twitter.com/ZVXe0lKRT9
— Republic (@republic) August 20, 2021
Newsweek said there had been some confusion over whether the districts had been recaptured, however, and that the situation on the ground in Banu and Deh-e-Salah remained “fluid” as of the report Friday.
It was just 10 days ago that the Taliban captured the capital of the Baghlan province, Pul-e-Khumri, at the onset of what would turn out to be a swift and successful military campaign across the country.
According to reporter Tajuden Soroush of the London-based Persian outlet Iran International, resistance commander Abdul Hamid said the militia was advancing toward the Khenhan district and “will capture Baghlan province.”
Upraising commander Abdul Hamid: We captured three districts of Andrabs, now we are advancing toward Khenhan district and we will capture Baghlan province. pic.twitter.com/IaMSqgYdDe
— Tajuden Soroush (@TajudenSoroush) August 20, 2021
The Afghan people have been fighting among themselves for decades and clearly will continue to do so whether or not U.S. forces are there.
As Biden continues to do damage control amid his horrifically botched pullout from the war-torn nation, the Afghan people who refuse to be ruled by the Taliban terrorists are stepping up once again to fight for their communities.
And just as the U.S. allies in Afghanistan are now some of the top targets for the brutal new regime, there is no doubt that the Taliban will resist these resistance forces fiercely.
Skirmishes over districts and provinces could become a regular fixture of life under Taliban control and could add to the violence and instability of this return to the pre-2001 status quo.
Yet the Taliban’s opponents are on their own now, which is the undeniable reality of a U.S. foreign policy move that, let’s face it, was long overdue.
Pray for Afghanistan.
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