Never in our wildest dreams did we think Taliban would return so easily: ANA officer who trained at IMA....

 Never in our wildest dreams did we think Taliban would return so easily: ANA officer who trained at IMA....

Two weeks ago, a young Afghan National Army (ANA) officer who pursued his pre-commission training at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun, was donning his uniform with pride, while on duty at a military base several miles away from Kabul. Little did he know that a week later, he would have to hide his uniform and all his identity cards to escape from the Taliban.

The ANA officer has been moving to different towns since August 15, when the Taliban captured Kabul, to avoid getting caught. According to him, the Taliban are looking for ANA personnel and other people who worked for the erstwhile elected government of former President Ashraf Ghani.

“We never thought in our wildest dreams that the Taliban would return so easily in just a few days. Our leaders sold us. Since the government was toppled and the top commanders surrendered, we hid our uniform and service weapons. We then went into hiding from the Taliban,” said the officer while talking to HT on a social media platform from an undisclosed town several miles away from capital Kabul.

He said that like him many others from the ANA are in hiding to avoid getting caught by the hardline Islamists who ruled the war-torn country from 1996 to 2001 invoking an extreme form of Sharia law.

“Like me, many others from the ANA are hiding in different places of the country. We are not scared at all, but only worried that they will take the country back to the period before 2001. We are waiting for the right time to rise against the Taliban who are still wild animals. We will not accept their rule,” said the officer.

Nearly got caught by Taliban at a checkpoint

The officer said that since August 15, he has been hiding in different towns to ensure his safety while worrying for his parents who live in the capital.

“Initially, I was hiding for a couple of days in one of my relative’s house. There I had proper food as I was hungry for two days with nothing left to eat in my post. From there I left for one of my friend’s place a few kilometres away a day ago. It was then, that I encountered the Taliban at a checkpoint manned by them,” he said.

“They stopped our car and using an expletive, asked us that from where we were coming and where we were going. For a moment we were worried, but we kept our cool and replied in a relaxed way to avoid any suspicion. Then they allowed us to go after a tense 3 minutes of questioning.”

Narrating his escape, he said that “fortunately, I had grown my beard a few weeks ago.”

“I started growing it weeks before the Taliban captured Kabul on August 15. It helped me pass the checkpoint along with my traditional attire of pathani suit which I donned after disposing my uniform,” said he officer adding he is “worried about his family”.

‘Was shocked to see our weapons in the hands of the Taliban’

The officer said he and his men hid their weapons including the American made M4 assault rifles before going into hiding while many others surrendered them to the Taliban.

“At the checkpoint, where we were stopped, I was shocked to see our weapons in the hands of those men. I was thinking, do you even know how to hold it properly, how to open it and clean it? But that was the new reality we had to accept in Afghanistan. They got their hands on the modern weaponry provided to us by the Americans,” he said adding “we however don’t know what to do, till when to hide like this.”

The ANA officer also vented his anger on the United States of America (USA) for their “abrupt exit all of a sudden”.

“Wherever they have stepped in, they have destroyed that country. Now after destroying ours, they left it suddenly. We want to tell the people of other countries that never ever trust them. They only care about their vested interests,” he said while also expressing his anger on former President Ashraf Ghani who fled from the country.

“After leaving the people of his country in this crisis, he had the guts to say in a video that he will return to Afghanistan to work for the people. If he returns, people will not spare him. How can someone leave his motherland and flee in such an hour of need?” he questioned.

‘Will soon stand under Ahmad Massoud’

Hoping for a turnaround in fortunes the young officer said, “The people of Afghanistan will soon stand up against the Taliban.”

“We are lucky to still have leaders like Ahmad Massoud, son of legendary Ahmad Shah Massoud, who have vowed to stand up for the people of Afghanistan against Taliban in Panjshir Valley which is the only province free from the Taliban,” he said adding resistance has already started in Baghlan province.

“There the locals recaptured three districts from the Taliban after they carried out a door-to-door search against their promise of general amnesty. That enraged the locals who then retaliated to capture the three districts from them. God willing, this will spread to other areas as well,” said the officer before signing off.