The Taliban has assigned a guard and cleaners for the tomb of Ahmad Shah Masoud – former Jihadi and anti-Taliban commander – in the northeastern Panjshir province, according to Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency (BNA).
Citing Mawlawi Mohammad Mohsen, Taliban’s governor for Panjshir, the BNA said that he personally visited Masoud’s tomb on Monday, November 21, to reject claims about the recent destruction of the tomb.
Days earlier, video footage circulated on social media showing Masoud’s tomb destroyed for a second time.
Later, the Taliban rejected the destruction of the tomb. “The Islamic Emirate is not favoring insult to anyone’s grave,” the BNA quoted the Taliban’s governor for Panjshir as saying. The Taliban which currently rules Afghanistan proclaims itself as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”.
The first time Masoud’s tomb was destroyed was when the Taliban took over Panjshir earlier in September 2021.
Ahmad Shah Masoud was a prominent Jihadi figure and anti-Taliban commander.
During the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Masoud successfully led an armed resistance against the Soviets and the Soviets couldn’t suppress his militia in Panjshir valley.
When the Taliban overthrew Burhanuddin Rabbani’s government in the late 1990s in which Masoud served as Minister of Defense, he again kept his militia resisting against the Taliban from Panjshir.
In August 2021, when the Taliban returned to power Masoud’s son, Ahmad Masoud, created a militia titled National Resistance Front (NRF) in Panjshir and started what he described as “the second resistance” against the Taliban.
His militia, however, couldn’t maintain control over Panjshir and the Taliban captured the province for the first time less than a month after the fall of Kabul.
NRF which is formed of mostly former Afghan security forces is still operating and has resorted to guerrilla warfare against the ruling Taliban. The militia has so far fought deadly battles and carried out attacks against the Taliban in Panjshir, Baghlan, Takhar, and Badakhshan provinces.
