The resistance against the Taliban begins now

Ahmed Massoud is the new leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan. His father was the legendary leader of the Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was assassinated by al-Qaeda before 9/11. Today, unlike back then, the Taliban have taken over all of Afghanistan - except for the Panjshir Valley, where the new Northern Alliance intends to regroup. Massoud has written an open letter as a plea to the world. The article was published in English in the Washington Post:

1998, when I was 9 years old, my father, the Mujahideen commander Ahmed Shah Massoud, gathered his soldiers in a cave in the Panjshir Valley in northern Afghanistan. They sat there and listened as my father's friend, the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, spoke to them. "When you fight for your freedom," Lévy said, "you are also fighting for our freedom."

My father never forgot this as he fought against the Taliban regime. Until his assassination on September 9, 2001 at the behest of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, he fought for the fate of Afghanistan, but also for the West.

This common struggle is more important than ever for my homeland in these dark, tense hours.

Today, I write from the Panjshir Valley, ready to follow in my father's footsteps, alongside Mujahideen fighters who are prepared to confront the Taliban once again. We have supplies of ammunition and weapons that we have patiently collected since my father's time, because we knew this day could come.

We also have the weapons of Afghans who have followed my call to join the resistance in Panjshir in the last 72 hours. We have soldiers of the regular Afghan army who are outraged by the surrender of their commanders and are now making their way to the mountains of Panjshir with their equipment. Former members of the Afghan special forces have also joined our fight.

But that is not enough. When the Taliban warlords launch an attack, they will naturally encounter our determined resistance. The flag of the National Resistance Front will fly over every position they try to take, just as the flag of the National Unity Front flew 20 years ago. However, we know that our military forces and logistics will not be sufficient. They will quickly be exhausted unless our friends in the West find a way to immediately supply us.

The United States and its allies have left the battlefield, but America can still be a "great arsenal of democracy," as Franklin D. Roosevelt said when he came to the aid of the besieged British before the US entered World War II.

To this end, I urge Afghanistan's friends in the West to advocate for us in Washington and New York, in Congress and with the Biden administration. Advocate for us in London, where I completed my studies, and in Paris, where my father's memory was honored this spring by naming a path in the Champs-Élysées gardens.

You should know that millions of Afghans share your values. We have fought for an open society for so long, a society where girls can become doctors, where the press can report freely, where our young people can dance and listen to music or attend football matches in stadiums once used by the Taliban for public executions - and may soon be used again.

The Taliban are not just a problem for the Afghan people. Under Taliban control, Afghanistan will undoubtedly become a center of radical Islamist terrorism; attacks on democracies will be carried out from here.

Whatever happens, my Mujahideen fighters and I will defend Panjshir as the last bastion of Afghan freedom. Our morale is intact. We know from experience what lies ahead of us.

But we need more weapons, more ammunition, and more supplies.

America and its democratic allies share not only the fight against terrorism with the Afghans. We now have a long history of common ideals and struggles. There is still much you can do to support the cause of freedom. You are our last hope.

More information about the new Northern Alliance.