The Taliban have been in power for three years since the disastrous withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021, and remain the country’s only pro-Western opposition force, National Resistance Front (NRF) is trying to gain leverage against increasingly extremist authorities, and that too without much-needed US and international support.
Even without external support, the NRF has increased its capabilities and expanded military operations across the country.
Ali Nazari, the NRF’s head of foreign relations, told Fox News Digital that the resistance group has launched more than 200 successful operations against the Taliban since January. Nazari said the NRF has expanded its focus to Afghanistan’s urban centers and is targeting Taliban commanders. The diversity of targets “reflects the precision, capabilities and experience gained by the freedom fighters and highlights the enemy’s vulnerabilities,” Nazari said.
As part of the withdrawal deal with the Trump administration, the Taliban agreed to prevent al Qaeda and other terrorist groups from using Afghan soil to target or threaten the US and its allies, but a new UN Security Council report indicates the Taliban has done little to curb al Qaeda activity in Afghanistan. The report says al Qaeda has opened eight new training camps and created safe havens in various parts of the country, including the insurgent stronghold of northern Afghanistan.
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The NRF is involved in a campaign to gain greater international recognition and support for its efforts to fight the Taliban. (National Resistance Front)
The report states that al Qaeda “harbors global ambitions, and makes covert and measured efforts to rebuild its capacity.” A 2022 UN report states that al Qaeda “leadership reportedly plays an advisory role with the Taliban, and the groups remain close.”
The Taliban have been quick to downplay their close ties to al Qaeda or any resistance, whether from resistance groups like the NRF or terrorist groups like ISIS-K. The facts on the ground are hard to deny as 493 Taliban fighters have been killed or wounded since January, according to NRF data.
The NRF, led by Ahmad Massoud, is virtually the only credible pro-Western Afghan resistance unit fighting the Taliban. Massoud is the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the prominent mujahideen insurgent who fought against the Soviet Union in the 1980s and was assassinated by al Qaeda operatives two days before the 9/11 attacks.
The NRF is composed of remnants of former members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and has gathered in traditional strongholds of anti-Taliban resistance in Afghanistan. Northern Panjshir Valley After the Taliban entered Kabul, other members of the Afghan security forces and officials from former President Ashraf Ghani’s government joined the NRF, including former Vice President Amrullah Saleh.
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Fatemeh Aman, a non-resident senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital that the Taliban are struggling to change the international perception that they have formed a government that is plagued by serious human rights violations and brutal policies towards women.
Aman said the NRF is still the same. The most important resistance groups Who opposes the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, but no viable alternative to their rule currently exists.
National Resistance Front fighters climbing a mountain. (National Resistance Front)
“Without a large-scale insurgency in Afghanistan and broad support from the international community, no group appears capable of replacing the Taliban regime,” Aman said.
With so many global crises ahead of the contentious and close US presidential election in November this year, the administration appears to have little desire to talk about the situation in Afghanistan three years later.
The United States does not support armed conflict in Afghanistan, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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“The country has been at war for 44 years. We do not want to see a return to conflict in Afghanistan, and we have heard from Afghans that they don’t want that either,” the State Department spokesperson said.
Nazari said the NRF forces, which are remnants of former Afghan security forces, had been trained for 20 years by US and international forces to conduct counter-terrorism operations.
He said, “We have the most capable units that can fight terrorists, and we have done so for three years without any support. We are confident that with our minimal support we will be able to defeat terrorism within Afghanistan.”
Without US or external support, it will be difficult for the NRF to pose a real challenge to the Taliban’s iron grip. The Taliban have also been unable to gain international recognition from major powers or a seat in the United Nations. The Taliban retained their global outcast status after beginning rule and reneged on their promise to respect the rights of all Afghans.
Taliban fighters display their flag during a patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Rehmat Gul)
The Taliban implemented Strict restrictions on girls‘ and women’s rights. According to Human Rights Watch, Afghanistan is the only country in the world where women and girls are barred from secondary and higher education, as well as from access to many sectors of the economy and government.
The Vienna Process for a Democratic Afghanistan is the sole platform of the Afghan resistance and was created to restore the rule of law, democracy and human rights. The process brings together 40 different parties from the diaspora, including women’s groups, media representatives and influential individuals. The group seeks to restore an inclusive government that represents all levels of Afghanistan’s diverse society.
“This process has laid the groundwork for an opposition coalition, drawing international attention to the illegitimacy of the Taliban,” Maniza Bakhtiari, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Austria, told Fox News Digital.
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After the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, some ambassadors serving under the previous government established an Ambassadors’ Council. According to Bakhtaari, members uphold democratic values, including human rights, women’s participation, and girls’ education, which are in direct opposition to the Taliban’s objectives. The Taliban does not recognize embassies that refuse to comply with its directives. However, many embassies continue to provide consular services to the Afghan expatriate community and are committed to maintaining their services.
A Taliban security member is shown among women queuing outside a passport office in Herat, Afghanistan, on August 26, 2023. (Mohsen Karimi/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite assurances given before returning to power, the Taliban have excluded other ethnic groups from the government and retained the power of their ethnic Pashtun base. Dialogue also works without any support from the US or the European Union, which would make it harder to exert influence if the Taliban were challenged.
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While the NRF continues its arduous effort to remove the Taliban from power, Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation has also worsened under Taliban rule since 2021. According to the UN, more than 23 million people will require humanitarian assistance in 2023. The world body also reported that 4 million Afghans were malnourished, including 3.2 million children under the age of 5.
