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Oasis Mazar

 

During Taliban rule in Afghanistan, only the countries northern most provinces resisted the Islamists. The regional capital Mazar-I-Sharif remained an Oasis of relative freedom, for men and women alike. Fighting the Taliban just outside of Kabul, the Northern Alliance held out against attacks, keeping the Taliban away.
For US News&WorlsReport

The Panshir valley, 90 miles north of the Afghan capital Kabul is the last pocket of resistance against the fundamentalist Taliban regime. Headquarter of the late commander Massoud, the secluded Panshir valley represents the last spark of hope for moderate Afghan muslim. Commander Massoud, who had been fighting the Russians for over ten years, spent the last 6 years resisting the Taliban, as de facto leader of the Northern alliance.

Reason for my visit to the Panshir valley is to meet with Taliban fighters from foreign countries, who had been taken prisoners by Northern alliance troops.

All roads leading to the valley have been blown up on purpose to prevent the Taliban from overrunning the valley. To access the valley I climbed over the remains of the road that once lead from Kabul to the Panshir. Taliban tank positions only few kilometers away on the plateau that leads to the capital Kabul held by the fundamentalist Taliban regime.
After hitching a ride on a old russian truck deeper into the valley and after several hours of foot march, I reached the prison where several hundred Taliban were held. A traditional Afghan fortress like farmhouse served as prison. Massouds men on the roofs stand guard with their Khalaschnikovs, and strict security all around.
Almost two hundred prisoners, some of them imprisoned for several months already. The most dangerous locked up in a shipping container, let out to pray and to wash in the morning and evening.
Night falls early in the deep valley, and the prisoners are lined up in a queue and marched to the nearby river. It is chilly, and they cuddle up in their blanket. Guards are keeping a close eye, making sure nobody moves to far away, trying to escape. They use their blankets as prayer rugs, devoutly bowing their heads to Meka.
Back in the communal cell, hundred prisoners share the floor, praying some sleeping. Several of the Taliban prisoners speak English, and many explain that they are from various former Soviet Republics, like Tajikistan, Kirgistan, as well as Pakistan and even China.
Some grew up in London, and were recruited by mullahs in Pakistan. Their stories are similar they all came to fight a Jihad - a holy war - against the nonbelievers in Northern Afghanistan, referring to Commander Massoud's supporters.
Some say they ended up in the Taliban army by accident, following the call to arms of the mullahs at some mosques in Pakistan, being signed up and recruited to go to Afghanistan. Others express their conviction that the Jihad they were fighting alongside their Taliban brothers was just and their duty. Nevertheless, most of them had no previous military experience, and were educated by the Taliban instructors in training camps specifically set up for foreign ?International ? fighters. They were taught the basic gun handling and shooting skills before being sent into battle to confront Northern Alliance troops.
Before leaving the prison, a young Pakistani among the prisoners speaking English secretly gave me a note, asking to send this to his family in Pakistan, to tell them he was alive and well. He already had been imprisoned for over 6 months. Back in Europe is sent off the note, and never got a response from the family.

Most of the prisoners I met were for several year in the same prison in the Panshir valley.