Anti-Taliban Gathering in Pajisir Valley… At the center is the ‘general’s son’.

The Panjishir Valley in northeastern Afghanistan is emerging as a rallying point for anti-Taliban forces. Although the Taliban have said they will establish a new government in Afghanistan, the possibility of a local conflict or civil war cannot be ruled out again.

On the 17th, tweets spread on Twitter that Afghan First Vice President Amrula Saleh, who fled Kabul to escape the Taliban, had a reunion with Masoud Jr., son of Afghanistan’s legendary war hero General Ahmad Shah Massoud, in the Panjisir Valley. They are appealing for the unity of the Northern Alliance to resist the Taliban through SNS with the hashtag ‘#PanjshirValley’.

“I will never be under the same sky as the terrorist Taliban,” Saleh also tweeted.

A Taliban soldier stands guard in an armed guard in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on the 17th (local time). [EPA=연합뉴스]

There is a reason anti-Taliban forces are gathering in this area. This is because this area has historical significance besides that it has not yet been under the control of the Taliban.

Panjisir Valley, which means ‘five lions’ in Dari (Afghan Persian), was the site of a guerrilla battle between Afghan soldiers against the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. At that time, General Massoud led the Battle of Panjishir Valley, earning him the nickname ‘The Lion of Panjishir’.

Afghan war hero, General Massoud, however, revolted against the Taliban in 1996 when the Taliban took over the Afghanistan. He was assassinated by the Taliban two days before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Massoud Jr., the son of General Massoud, who has joined hands with Vice President Saleh, is sending a letter to Western media, including France and the United States, asking for help.

In an article for the Washington Post (WP) on the 19th (local time), he wrote, “I am ready to follow in my father’s footsteps in the Panjishir Valley. ) and I write with them.”

This photo was taken in Paris, France in March this year by Massoud Jr., son of General Ahmad Massoud. [AFP=연합뉴스]

“We knew this day would come, and we have been stockpiling weapons since my father’s days,” Masoud Jr. said in the article. They are heading to the hills here.” “If the Taliban attack, we will strongly resist, and we will defend Panjisir as the last bulwark of Afghan freedom,” he said.

However, he said, “We know that our military power and munitions are not enough,” he said. “The Taliban is not a problem for the Afghan people,” Masoud Jr. said. “Afghanistan under the Taliban will become a hotbed of radical Islamic terrorism. I ask,” he said. “The United States and its democratic allies are our only hope,” he said.

Earlier, French media ‘Le Journal do Dimanche’ also published a letter from Massoud Jr. through the philosopher Bernard Henri Levi. “President Emmanuel Macron and the citizens of Paris do not give up on the independence fighters of Afghanistan.” Levy was also the person who expressed support for the Northern Alliance when he met General Massoud at Panjishir in 1998.

Afghanistan’s First Vice President Amrula Saleh tweeted on the 17th (local time), “Under the Afghan constitution, in the absence of the president, the interim president will be the first vice president,” and “I am the head of this country.” “We’re drawing support and consensus from leaders around the world,” he said. [로이터=연합뉴스]

With the Taliban already taking over Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, where major military and administrative facilities are located, it is unclear how effective the struggle of these northern alliances will be. However, local clashes or civil wars may occur again depending on the degree of concentration of anti-Taliban forces within and outside Afghanistan.

Another factor may be the fact that the international community has not yet recognized the Taliban as an official government. The US has already frozen the Afghan government’s dollar accounts, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut off Afghanistan’s share of IMF aid.

“According to the Afghan constitution, the first vice president becomes head of the provisional government in the absence, flight, resignation or death of the president,” Saleh tweeted. “We are gaining support and consensus from all (world’s) leaders,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Ghani, who abandoned the presidential palace and escaped abroad on the 15th just before the Taliban entered Kabul, revealed his face for the first time through an SNS video message on the 18th.

With the Afghan flag behind him, he said, “I had no choice but to leave Kabul to prevent bloodshed. I am currently in the UAE,” he said.

These are indications that the Taliban is not easily recognized as a legitimate regime by the international community.

By Lee Yoo-jung, staff reporter uuu@joongang.co.kr