9. On the Frontline with the ALP
“There was fighting for three days and they spent all the food and all the bullets and their magazines were empty... So they talked to the Taliban and went to [the] Taliban’s side. We don’t know whether the Taliban killed them or [not].”
Abdul Jamil, an ageing member of the Afghan Local Police can barely remember the last time he saw peace. At 75, he was commanding his men on the frontline near Lashkar Gah with Taliban less than 100m away. This interview was made possible and translated by Aliyas Dayee, who was killed in a targeted attack last week.
8. Helmand on the Brink, Again
“This is all [about] the peace process program. As a military General [I’m] not happy with [the order to defend only]. But our president and our high leaders and generals, they’re happy with the peace process. ”
Lt. Gen. Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai started his career as a soldier with the Soviets in 1987. Now, he is the Afghan National Army’s most senior officer in Helmand. He helped prevent Lashkar Gah from falling in 2016 but was at the helm when the Taliban came to the gates of the capital in early October.
7. Forced from Home in Helmand
“As I prepared to leave I saw all the soldiers ready, sitting in their armoured vehicles and rangers, and altogether we moved and left the village. It wasn’t heavy fighting that compelled the soldiers to flee.
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Mohammad Sardar, a teacher from Nad-i Ali in Helmand, has been forced from his home with his family three times in 12 years because of fighting. It happened again less than two weeks ago when the Taliban conducted their largest military offensive since the Doha agreement was signed in February.
6. Leading the Charge, with Farahnaz Forotan
“I’m not part of the Kabul elite… I don’t have a foreign passport. When I’m feeling depressed I can’t go somewhere to get away. ”
Farahnaz Forotan grew up as a refugee in Iran and has gone on to become perhaps the most powerful woman on television in Afghanistan. She also founded the My Red Line campaign, allowing Afghans to name the human rights they enjoy now and are not willing to give up in peace negotiations.
5. The Corruption Epidemic, with Dr. Yama Torabi
“They told me there’s a new general coming in to fight corruption. I wasn’t very enthusiastic... He came to my office... and said ‘call me H.R.’”
Dr. Yama Torabi has a PhD in International Relations. He co-founded Integrity Watch Afghanistan in 2005 and later directed it before co-chairing the government’s Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (2012 - 2017), and later heading the Special Anti-Corruption Secretariat (2017 - 2020).
4. Fighting While Talking, with a Taliban Commander
“If [the Afghan government doesn’t want to] reach a peace deal then we may use force. That’s the last option we have.”
Ismael joined the Taliban in 2003 after witnessing the closure of religious schools and bombing and raids on Afghan homes. 17 years on, he is now a high-ranking military commander and the only one among the group of five friends he first took up arms with who is still alive.
3. Covering the War, with Saad Mohseni
“Moral equivalency is something people talk about. [Tolo isn’t] going to treat the Taliban the same as the [ANSF]. How could we?”
Saad Mohseni is the founder and chairman of Afghanistan’s most popular radio and television networks. His staff have been marked as “military objectives” by the Taliban and killed in several suicide attacks. He sees hope in Taliban coming off the battlefield into modern Kabul and watching Turkish soap-operas in the evening.
2. Vocation, with Mahpekay Sediqy
“Every time I plan to make a good prosthesis for myself [patients] come and I see [they] need it more than me.”
Mahpekay Sediqy lost both legs to a mine in the late 1990s. Since then, through her work as a prosthetics & orthotics professional, she has helped hundreds of people with disabilities to walk, some for the first time. Despite this, she endures daily harassment and the unending disapproval of relatives who believe she is outperforming her role as a disabled woman.
1. What the Taliban Want, with Rahmatullah Amiri
“Islam has given women a lot of rights. The Taliban knows about this… It’s [Afghan] traditions that intervene when it comes to women.”
Rahmatullah Amiri was shot three times during an attack on the university where he studied in Kabul in 2016. He survived, and with unparallelled access to communities where the Taliban hold sway and unique insights into their governance and military structures, Amiri has become one of the most sought-after Taliban researchers today.