Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Son of rebel warlord ‘kills 100’ in uprising
AN AFGHAN educated in Britain is leading the fightback in his home country, which has already seen between 60 to 100 Taliban killed.
Ahmad Massoud, son of a legendary mujahideen commander, is heading up the heavily-armed uprising.
It is not known how many casualties have been suffered by the rebel force.
Massoud – son of Ahmad Shah Massoud – has vowed his army of rebels will “fight to the last breath”.
Known as the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, they are based in a mountain redoubt in Panjshir, north of Kabul, and have seen their numbers swelled by western-trained Afghan fighters who are fleeing the city.
Backing 32-year-old Massoud is Afghanistan’s top spy and ousted Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who has a network of spies inside Kabul.
The uprising has sparked fears of an all-out civil war in Afghanistan as UK and US troops desperately try to evacuate thousands from Kabul.
A source told us: “Over the past three days, remnants of the Afghan National Defence and Security Force made their way to Panjshir. They are bolstering, joining and supporting Massoud’s alliance. The Taliban are being attacked on several fronts in multiple assaults but they will send reinforcements north to fight back.”
Massoud’s father – known as the “lion of Panjshir” – was murdered by al-Qaeda days before 9/11.
He led the CIA-backed Northern Alliance, which ousted the Taliban in 2002 and stabilised the country.
It is hoped the attacks led by his son may buy more evacuation time.
Massoud fears that Taliban rule in Afghanistan will once again give al-Qaeda the freedom to plot a 9/11 style atrocity – possibly in the UK.
He said: “The Taliban is not a problem for the Afghan people alone. Under Taliban control, Afghanistan will become Ground Zero of radical Islamist terrorism. Plots against democracies will be hatched here once again.”
In a letter to The Washington Post asking for weapons and aid, he said: “I am ready to follow in my father’s footsteps, with mujahideen fighters who are prepared to once again take on the Taliban.”
Massoud, who went on a one-year military course at Sandhurst, has a degree from King’s College London.