*RE-UPLOAD* The Afghan Resistance I ARTE.tv Documentary

[Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] kabul a city straining under the taliban yoke the afghan capital seems to be looking inward once again weary of hoping for peace it has resigned itself to accepting its daily routine following our previous report last autumn it's surprising to see such a deceptive normalization as embodied by these taliban fighters who walk the city streets unarmed [Music] no more issues yet it's incredible that we first make contact with the armed resistance in one of the city suburbs the man who has agreed to speak with us is a commander in the national resistance front he's the head of a family and he says he joined the resistance in his youth for his safety will refer to him as the commander the commander details his trips between kabul and the panchayat province the fiefdom of he refuses to bring us to one of these secret meetings and advises us not to go to panshir yet that is where the armed resistance is located in this rebel province located two hours drive north of kabul oh to get around the punch here there is only one road and it's in the valley it follows the course of the river and cuts across the province from north to south over a stretch of 100 kilometers this region came under taliban control after a large offensive against the resistance in september 2021 the resistance fighters are thought to have retreated into the dangerous and inaccessible mountains the remains of soviet tanks are a reminder that panshir is where the resistance defeated the russian invader in the 1980s [Music] since last autumn however new signs of conflict have been on display when when taliban coming here they explode in this cars they call it an error of assessment here there were no resistance fighters in those cars through their stranglehold on the valley the taliban makes life difficult for the combatants whose weapons supply chain is cut off discover some weapons and that and suddenly and then when they come back they have stay here and they make a happiness and they fire that mountain in bazarak the main city we're required to check in with the taliban authorities the governor receives us at his headquarters claims he played a major role in building the islamic emirates over the past ten years and that he was behind several military attacks he's insistent on telling his story [Music] to prove his claims he orders his trips to take us on a check a few kilometers away [Music] foreign this area is a hotbed of traffickers and opponents of the regime yet it is a routine check that nearly goes wrong a taliban soldier has just searched a vehicle with women on board an act forbidden by the islamic emirates [Music] it is an incredible scene of taliban soldiers ready to fight each other in front of foreign journalists [Music] order is restored and we meet the captain at police headquarters [Music] every inhabitant claims to be a resistance fighter even if they're unarmed rebellion flows through these mountains and villages as does the allegiance to one family the masood commander ahmed who was victorious over the soviets in 1999 and an indefatigable adversary of the first taliban regime in the 1990s is considered a national hero here his son ahmad the new leader of the resistance is equally as respected despite having to flee the valley when the taliban arrived he continues the fight from abroad [Music] the elders in this village explained that there were indeed resistance fighters in the mountains before the snow season but since then they have been waiting for um foreign [Music] foreign no helicopters were shot down they were merely struck heroics keep hope alive [Music] away from prying eyes everyone wants to tell us their story this young man prefers to remain anonymous foreign our presence could draw the taliban's attention to these villages so we quickly get back on the road we instead set off on a hunt across panshir in an attempt to make contact with the mujahideen the resistance fighters who are holed up somewhere in these mountains [Music] a meeting that will take place away from the villages near the river a few minutes later we begin a difficult ascent over craggy paths with nothing to light the way but a small flashlight and the glow of the moon when we arrive at the encampment several dozen mujahideen tell us they're proud to receive the first western journalists since the taliban's occupation of punch share began they're proud that someone is taking an interest in them [Music] [Music] among these fighters are young people from all over the province former mujahideen commander massoud's comrades special forces soldiers and public servants [Music] before leaving the encampment under the cover of darkness these leaders suggest the imminent resumption of spring offensives some attacks did indeed take place but it will take more weapons and more than mere skirmishes to win back punchier [Music] to understand how the opposition is organized we have to meet its head of operations commander ahmed masood and his support the capital of tajikistan is the place to go in order to establish contact in this small republic to the northeast of afghanistan the local authorities offer a kind welcome to the resistance [Music] the afghan ambassador is an essential contact he fought alongside commander massoud he doesn't hesitate to voice his position breaking with diplomatic neutrality and unafraid of the risks he runs by upsetting the taliban leaders mechanism b many of the commanders former comrades gravitate around his son but the man who was just called in as reinforcement has been named leader of the entire resistance his is a strategic mission for the opposition movement against the taliban it represents a new and crucial step a turning point in organizing the guerrilla army um he assures us that his fighters possess several training camps throughout afghanistan the resistance against the taliban is conducted on every front including on social media the videos posted by fighters galvanized the resistance and light the beacon of hope from one valley to the next [Music] never appears on social media in person he has not sat for any interviews since he left panshir last autumn he makes an exception for us grunting an interview somewhere in central asia under very strict scrutiny the leader of the resistance is a target for the taliban and terrorist groups we aren't allowed to film outside of this room thank you very much uh cherry fortunately no i'm i'm a graduate of a major european university he conducts this interview in english we are not being backed by any sort of a foreign country we are a genuine group and are from afghanistan based on the generosity of the afrian people we are trying to resist and fight for another country for our freedom and for democracy so for these reasons for these values the people right now they are having limited resources because of the limited resources the amount of personnel we are having is limited but the people who want to join it is tremendous it's a lot the resistance leader acknowledges the fight is hard and asserts his bafflement the afghans they have been the main victim of war on terror for the past few decades so how come the war on terror was justifiable up to the 15th of august but it is not after 15th of august the african people they don't understand it so that's why they feel lonely and they feel that you know to some extent even betrayed so therefore we are fighting against international terrorism not just a so it is very important for the world to put pressure for their own sake as well to put pressure on the taliban to create or to be able to be opened up and to accept to realize this important factor that afghanistan and the legitimacy of the estate it needs to come from the people and there is a mechanism for it called elections seemed very isolated that day when we asked how he was faring he remained discreet well uh ever since the i know the collapse of kabul and everything that happened we are in touch with the people and we are trying to basically resist the current situation that afghan people they are living in unfortunately the i know the situation is in a way in the security situation is in a way that i have to be on constant move and i have to be in constant sort of uh day and night work you know for for the situation afghanistan it's a it's a drastic change but we are adapting to it [Music] before fleeing panshir when the taliban arrived ahmad masood visited the grave of his father commander ahmed shah perched over the valley it faces the mountains the sight of these taliban fighters guarding the mausoleum of a man who was once their enemy makes for a strange spectacle [Music] justice strange is the feeling induced by panshir the valley of the five lions a land of extremes where fighting is a duty and resistance is a question of honor [Music]

Channel: ARTE.tv Documentary

Views: 484,633

Keywords: The Afghan Resistance, Taliban, Massoud family, Panjshir, panjshir resistance, taliban in afghanistan, afghanistan taliban, ahmad shah massoud, panjshir valley, afghanistan, taliban afghanistan, taliban in panjshir, panjshir valley taliban, taliban violence in afghan, taliban panjshir, panjshir news, panjshir afghanistan, afghanistan news, panjshir afghanistan village life, ahmad massoud, afghan taliban, @artetvdocumentary, panjshir, panjshir afghanistan news

Id: GAobIy2PCuU

Length: 24min 13sec (1453 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 03 2022