The General Who Defied The Taliban (1997)

Oh last October in the middle of the night the last fragment of moderate Afghanistan fled through these mountains the Taliban Army had just taken cover thirty thousand people made it here to the Pangaea valley and the world has barely heard of them since it was expected that their parish just another footnote in the Taliban story that they've managed to survive and today they're fighting back no police hopefully these soldiers are the remnants of the government troops could escape from Kabul it was here in this narrow Gorge that they dug in and finally stopped the Taliban assault this is the entrance to the Panjshir Valley just over this Ridge when the government troops pass through here they blew up the road behind them blocking the Taliban out and themselves in for the duration of the long Afghan winter but now the snows are melting and the battle for the Panjshir and Afghanistan is starting again since they lost Kabul this Hut has become the center of power for the government of Afghanistan it's part military headquarters part Parliament house in part town hall and this man is effectively the leader of each of them Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud Massoud has been a military commander for almost 20 years but today he faces literally the fight of his life commander ba ba ba lon vamos yang but before they struggled to survive militarily is just one of misled problems keeping people fear is even more focus rather than faded that precede a skeleton Avengers answers often as a day or tavern martinet better tell you you better the botanist becomes a veteran the amicus am a lunatic a kilometer to the ironic Caracas with mr. Simmons Taliban they put pressure on on the people the environment the freedom teams like in Geneva dad the Masood is relying upon to bring some government involved he's a specialist in French meetings and like virtually all rather educated moderates in flavor capital is the Taliban approached didn't permit the woman you know who peaceful didn't permit their girls go to school in versity at least I like my children they know good University if it be sir my son if it be my daughter with 27 relatives praying fathers I feel freedom here I like you know nobody bother me III do my work I do my job and I take care of my family and the way which I like you know I live in this in this area this is the reason today for feeding in thousand thousand refugees we're trapped inside of about the focus of these win would be civil liberties that person to flee as northern Afghans they feared for their lives at the hands of the dominant these men are Taliban soldiers captured on Assad's troops and now in prison in the Panjshir episode about me boomers daily the Taliban are creating new interpretations of Islamic laws in the areas they control - the half million people who've recently left Kabul the Taliban edicts are becoming increasingly bizarre but for these men their belief in their cause is under these refugees from Kabul were also a deeply religious people and to them the Taliban is playing to a higher form of Islam is not only insulting it's as much for them against but against a front for foreign powers and in the Panjshir as Massoud knows nothing draws people together more than a foreign invader it was in the Panjshir that the most decisive battles against the might of the Russian army report and today the remnants of a decade of war are still being well worked over it was from his base in the Panjshir that Massoud in his Mujahideen devastated the Russian army after the Communists and created the Afghan Republic no one here forgets that Massoud even when the odds seemed impossible has fought his way out of this valley before defending the entrance to the Pangea throughout winter important some time to regroup and raise a volunteer army with the mountain pastures now opening up I've seen some of your new recruits and many of them seemed rather raw can they be any match for far more seasoned Taliban fruits a complement of a magenta deserve a crest on the bonus but the Mujahideen a consistent year 44 take each Oh Aniston it's veteran commanders like all about the Mossad is relying upon to train his volunteer army and normally in the short term to hold the line the entrance to the pension new rules over differentiate all ends the [ __ ] about the public infirmary remember family humberto Sarah we should you know by the [ __ ] company the Taliban are at the end of this Gorge and two-thirds of the country lies behind them if they want all of Afghanistan they have to take this narrow Valley to attack here will be employment suicidal may need such attacks before and no one doubts that they'll do it again for the past weeks Taliban Ford Scouts have been trying to make at the frontline positions here and search for a path through this minefield we've had our nose attack is coming Taliban simply cannot afford to leave the suitcases here does 100 kilometers from their new capital if Massoud remains trapped inside the Panjshir the Taliban will destroy him and to break out he needs more than just his own troops it's clearly success now depends on finding other allies in the north no easy task in an area torn by Civil War to survive Massoud now has to turn old enemies into allies yet must suffer on what they kill hottest in the attack I totally avoid us with the shava and power the show OMA comedy Gidget hijo de piqi demon we act out a strategy que ando mayhem Comstock Eamon a lot of yet massive Cunha the kabbala Tavares Jenga Tolliver awesome the time has come for Masood to leave the valley and travel across the rest of the north he's just received news in an uprising that his supporters in East Afghanistan has failed they attacked alone and without other active fronts the Taliban swamped them with troops a joint military strategy for all of northern Canada has now become facilities traveling to his secretly he's five and hours from the nearest town and for his bodyguards it's a tense place to break down a telling reflection on the lack of government and order across the north das women clearly our former enemies of missiles that they control and endorse me in particular the largest personal of weapons in the country theoretically das demand Massoud became allies when carbon felt but in reality they haven't even met since then nor had in a joint battle plan I lasted about 6 seconds in the meeting with Dustin on other comers before I was thrown out across the north emerging military forces deep hearted and Cheer sometimes easy to forget the truth that the next two months are going to bring in reality the swords Alliance may still prove to be a shaky one but in the case that has reigned across North Afghanistan it's the first step towards creating a unified government a single military strategy engineer mere dad has planted his crops to feed the refugees but he's unsure if you'll see them come to harvest he survived years of warlords factions and fanatics but if Massoud fails he could no longer live in Afghanistan as difficult you know to survive in between the Taliban to be is here maybe I go out of the country maybe I died this is my uh Naevia the Taliban have proven themselves to be a noble air force but as it has in the past this tiny melody may still hold the key to the future of Afghanistan

Channel: Journeyman Pictures

Views: 824,534

Keywords: journeyman pictures, news, current affairs, world news, documentary, Taliban, Afghanistan, General Massoud, Islamism, Extremism

Id: HItw-lG4eDM

Length: 17min 51sec (1071 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 24 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/Nimreddi]

His shelling of Kabul long before the taleban was formed killed tens of thousands of civilians. His callous barbarism is one of the main causes of the rise of the taleban. Not a hero but just another bloodthirsty warlord.