3 years after US withdrawal, Afghan resistance still ignored by US, West

The Taliban has been in power for three years since the disastrous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021, and the country's only pro-Western opposition force, the National Resistance Front (NRF), tries to make gains against the increasingly extremist authorities, all without much-needed U.S. and international support.

Even without external support, the NRF has increased its capabilities and expanded military operations throughout the country.

Ali Maisam Nazary, head of foreign relations for the NRF, told Fox News Digital that the resistance group has launched more than 200 successful operations against the Taliban since January. Nazary said the NRF has expanded its focus to Afghanistan’s urban centers and has been targeting Taliban commanders. The diversity of targets shows the "precision, capabilities and experience the freedom fighters have gained and shows the weaknesses of the enemy," Nazary said.

As part of the withdrawal agreement with the Trump administration, the Taliban agreed to prevent al Qaeda and other terrorist groups from using Afghan soil to target or threaten the U.S. and its allies, but a new U.N. Security Council report indicates that the Taliban has done little to curb al Qaeda activity in Afghanistan. The report notes that al Qaeda opened eight new training camps and has safe havens in various parts of the country, including the rebel stronghold of northern Afghanistan.

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The report stated that al Qaeda "harbor global ambitions, and covert and calibrated efforts to rebuild their capability were reported." A 2022 U.N. report said al Qaeda "leadership reportedly plays an advisory role with the Taliban, and the groups remain close."

The Taliban has been quick to downplay their close relationship with al Qaeda or any resistance they face, whether it’s from resistance groups like the NRF or terrorist groups like ISIS-K. It’s hard to deny facts on the ground as 493 Taliban fighters have been killed or wounded since January, according to data from the NRF.

The NRF, led by Ahmad Massoud, is virtually the only credible pro-Western Afghan resistance unit fighting the Taliban. Massoud is the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the prominent Mujahideen rebel who fought against the Soviets in the 1980s and was assassinated by al Qaeda operatives two days before the 9/11 attacks.

The NRF is composed of remnants of former members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and gathered in traditional strongholds of anti-Taliban resistance in the northern Panjshir valley once the Taliban marched into Kabul. Other members of the Afghan security forces and officials in the government of former President Ashraf Ghani joined the NRF, including former Vice President Amrullah Saleh.

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The Taliban is struggling to change the international perception that they have created a government marked by severe human rights violations and vicious policies toward women, Fatemeh Aman, non-resident senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.

Aman said the NRF remains the most significant resistance group that opposes the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan but that a viable alternative to their rule doesn't seem to exist at the moment.

"Without a large-scale uprising and widespread support within Afghanistan and from the international community, no group appears to be capable of replacing the Taliban regime," Aman said.

Amid multiple global crises leading up to a contentious and close U.S. presidential election this November, there doesn’t appear to be much of an appetite in the administration for talking about the situation in Afghanistan three years later.

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the United States does not support armed conflict in Afghanistan. 

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"The country was at war for 44 years. We do not want to see a return to conflict in Afghanistan, and we hear from Afghans that they don’t either," the State Department spokesperson said.

Nazary said the NRF’s forces, composed of remnants of the former Afghan security forces, were trained by the U.S. and international forces for 20 years to pursue counterterrorism. 

"We have the most capable units that can fight terrorists, and we have done this for three years without any support. We believe our minimal support we will be able to defeat terrorism within Afghanistan," he said.

Without U.S. or external support, it would be difficult for the NRF to mount a real challenge to the Taliban’s iron grip. The Taliban has also been unable to secure international recognition from major powers or a seat at the United Nations. The Taliban retained its global pariah status once it began to govern and reneged on its promise to respect the rights of all Afghans.

The Taliban implemented draconian restrictions on girls' and women’s rights. Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where women and girls are banned from secondary and higher education as well as many sectors of the economy and government, according to Human Rights Watch.

The Vienna Process for a Democratic Afghanistan is the only forum for Afghan resistance and was created to restore the rule of law, democracy and human rights. The process brings together 40 different parties within the diaspora, including women's groups, media representatives and influential individuals. The group seeks to restore an inclusive government that represents all levels of Afghanistan’s diverse society.

"The process has laid the groundwork for an opposition coalition, drawing international attention to the illegitimacy of the Taliban," Afghan Ambassador to Austria Manizha Bakhtari told Fox News Digital. 

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After the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, some of the ambassadors serving under the previous government established an ambassadors' council. The members, according to Bakhtari, uphold democratic values, including human rights, women's participation and girls' education, which are in direct opposition to the Taliban's objectives. The Taliban does not recognize the embassies that refuse to comply with its directives. However, many of the embassies continue to provide consular services to the Afghan diaspora community and remain committed to maintaining their services.

Despite assurances before returning to power, the Taliban has shut out other ethnic groups from the government and has maintained the power of its ethnic Pashtun base. The dialogue also functions without any support from the U.S. or EU, making it harder to have an impact on challenging the Taliban. 

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While the NRF engages in its Herculean effort to remove the Taliban from power, Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation has also gotten worse under Taliban rule since 2021. More than 23 million people needed humanitarian assistance in 2023, according to the U.N. The world body also reported that 4 million Afghans were malnourished, including 3.2 million children under the age of 5.