1975 Panjshir Valley uprising
| 1975 Panjshir Valley uprising | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 Republic of AfghanistanSupported by:  Soviet Union |
Supported by: Pakistan Iran(allegedly) | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
|
Abdul Karim Mustaghni |
 Ahmad Shah Massoud Gulbuddin Hekmatyar | ||||
The 1975 Panjshir Valley uprising was an Islamist uprising led by Jamiat-e Islami against the government of Daoud Khan.
Background
In 1973, former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan was brought to power in a coup d'état backed by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, and the Republic of Afghanistan was established. These developments gave rise to an Islamist movement opposed to the increasing communist and Soviet influence over Afghanistan.[1] During that time, while studying at Kabul University, Massoud became involved with the Muslim Youth (Sazman-i Jawanan-i Musulman), the student branch of the Jamiat-e Islami (Islamic Society), whose chairman then was the professor Burhanuddin Rabbani. Kabul University was a center for political debate and activism during that time.[2]
The uprising
Infuriated by the arrogance of his communist peers and Russian professors, a physical altercation between Massoud and his Russian professor led Massoud to walk out of the university, and shortly after, Kabul. Two days later, Massoud and a number of fellow militant students traveled to Pakistan where, goaded by another trainee of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Massoud agreed to take part in a coup against Daoud with his forces rising up in the Panjshir and Hekmatyar's elsewhere.[2] In July 1975, Massoud, with help from the Pakistani intelligence, led the first rebellion of Panjshir residents against the government of Daoud Khan.[3] While the uprising in the Panjshir began saw initial success, even taking the military garrison in Rokha, the promised support from Kabul never came and the rebellion was suppressed by Daoud Khan's forces sending Massoud back into Pakistan (after a day hiding in Jangalak) where he would attend a secret, paramilitary ISI training center in Cherat.[4] Dissatisfied, Massoud left the center and returned to Peshawar where he committed himself to personal military studies. Massoud read Mao Tse-Tung's writings on the Long March, of Che Guevara's career, the memoirs of General de Gualle, General Võ Nguyên Giáp, Sun Tzu's Art of War, and an unnamed handbook on counterterrorism by an American general which Massoud called "the most instructive of all".[4][2]
After this failure, a "profound and long-lasting schism" within the Islamist movement began to emerge.[1] The Islamic Society split between supporters of the more moderate forces around Massoud and Rabbani, who led the Jamiat-i Islami, and more radical Islamist elements surrounding Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who founded the Hezb-i Islami.[2] The conflict reached such a point that Hekmatyar reportedly tried to kill Massoud, then 22 years old.[5][1]
References
- ^ a b c Roy Gutman. How We Missed the Story: Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban and the Hijacking of Afghanistan (1st ed., 2008 ed.). Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC. p. 34.
- ^ a b c d Shahram Akbarzadeh; Samina Yasmeen (2005). Islam And the West: Reflections from Australia. University of New South Wales Press. pp. 81–82.
- ^ Ansar, Massoud (9 September 2018). "Furious Kabul Residents Slam Govt Over Massoud Day Mayhem". TOLOnews.
- ^ a b Gall, Sandy (2021). Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmad Shah Massoud. London: Haus Publishing. pp. 20–21, 22. ISBN 978-1-913368-22-7.
- ^ Marcela Grad (2009). Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader. Webster University Press. p. 310.ISBN 9780982161500