A Taliban provincial governor has paid a visit to the tomb of Ahmad Shah Masud, an Afghan military commander considered by many to be a national hero for his resistance struggle against the Soviet Union, following reports of vandalism at the site.
The governor of Panjshir, Mohamad Mohsen Hashemi, indicated that the aim was to prove that these accusations were false and stressed that the authorities «are in no way in favor of insulting the tomb of any person».
«Ahmad Shah Masud’s tomb is safe,» he said, before stressing that the authorities have appointed a group of people to protect the mausoleum, which has been attacked twice in the past year, Afghan news agency Jaama Press reported.
Recently images were published on social networks showing the damage suffered by the tomb, which led the Taliban to speak of «conspiracy» to try to stir up tensions in this area of the country, scene of sporadic fighting between the group and the National Resistance Front (NRF), led by Ahmad Masud, son of Ahmad Shah Masud.
Ahmad Shah Masud was killed on September 9, 2001, two days before the September 11 attacks in the United States, in a suicide bombing in the northern province of Tajar by two members of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization who posed as journalists with the intention of interviewing him.
After the Taliban came to power in August 2021, the NRF called for a «national uprising» against the Taliban. The group led by Masud claims to fight for democratic values, including fair political representation that includes Afghanistan’s different ethnic groups, fair elections and the protection of women’s rights.
