Pakistani meddling
Multiple sources, Afghan and otherwise, joined Ahmad Massoud in claiming that the Pakistan Army was helping the Taliban establish their government in Kabul and attack NRF positions in Panjshir. Tehran was particularly incensed.
Tehran Times @TehranTimes79
Iranian MP: Pakistan's ISI head is involved in #PanjshirValley offensive as well as the formation of the Taliban cabinet.
September 12th 2021
915 Retweets2,646 Likes
Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, Director General of the ISI,
rushed to Kabul in order to mediate between rival factions within the Taliban.
“According to Afghan sources, Hameed rushed to Kabul after a clash between Baradar and Haqqani-supported groups in which Baradar sustained injuries,” Ex-Pentagon official Michael Rubin has written in an article.
Around the same time, multiple sources claimed that after the Taliban’s initial losses, the Pakistan Army had put boots on the ground in the effort against the NRF in Panjshir.
Benjamin Hall @BenjaminHallFNC
The #Pakistani military are assisting the #Taliban offensive in #Panjshir - Including 27 helicopters full of Pakistani Special Forces, backed up by Pakistani #drone strikes. CENTCOM source tell @FoxNews.
September 7th 2021
1,686 Retweets2,812 Likes
The Pakistan Army has used helicopter gunships against the NRF, with Lt Gen Hameed coordinating operations from Kabul.
Bernard-Henri Lévy @BHL
Just received from #PanjshirValley credible informations about: #Pakistan commandos fighting #Massoud’s people; one commander of #SSG on the ground; cobra helicopters in air; few #Pakistani ID left on battlefield; and, in #Kabul, maybe coordinating, Lt Gen Faiz Hamid from #ISI .
September 5th 2021
1,050 Retweets2,254 Likes
The scale of the Pakistani effort was significant: 27 helicopters and 390 soldiers of Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG) were doing the heavy lifting in the fight against the NRF in Panjshir.
Lara Logan @laralogan
Calling for targeting of American journalists - who is paying you? Separately from Hall another first-hand US source said 27 helicopters & 390 Pakistani Commandoes did an air assault into Pansjir valley Sat eve, Pakistani Intel/ISI facilitated the movement. Sanction Pakistan?
Truth Media @FactCheckAsia
Benjamin Hall is Fox News correspondence, A Major source of disinformation. He is successfully fooling brainless western audience by quoting imaginary sources. Name & Shame Benjamin https://t.co/gd9Wlg1dXB
September 8th 2021
280 Retweets708 Likes
Rapid progress
With Pakistan’s Special Forces leading the fighting against the NRF, the Taliban began making significant gains, capturing multiple towns inside the valley proper. They even claimed to have captured Panjshir in its entirety, a claim that was rebuffed by the NRF. Following in Ahmad Shah Massoud’s footsteps, the NRF appears to be avoiding open battle and is retreating into the numerous side valleys of Panjshir.
Given Saleh’s history with the ISI, it is no surprise that Pakistani Special Forces are gunning for his head. But they appear to have made little headway, and might have even been lured into an ambush.
Maj Gen (Dr)GD Bakshi SM,VSM(retd) @GeneralBakshi
Panjshir Update.Apparently Pak planning to paradrop SSG sniper teams to get Amrullah Saleh as he was fleeing. Bad news for Pak he was not fleeing! Gen Bajwa getting very irritated&short tempered at the complete failure of his SSG ops in Panjshir and Chaotic coord with Taliban.
September 4th 2021
720 Retweets3,745 Likes
Despite claims and counter-claims, the tide of battle appeared to have turned conclusively in favour of the Taliban+ forces. They captured and desecrated Ahmad Shah Massoud’s tomb inside Panjshir on his 20th death anniversary.
Shabnam Nasimi @NasimiShabnam
Ahmad Shah Massoud's tomb demolished by Taliban on his 20th death anniversary.
September 9th 2021
32 Retweets47 Likes
Unidentified aircraft
Then something unexpected happened.
Unidentified aircraft flew in from the north and carried out airstrikes on Taliban positions in Panjshir.
Aditya Raj Kaul @AdityaRajKaul
Developing: Unidentified military planes launch Airstrike on Taliban positions in Panjshir valley? Unconfirmed reports trickling in.
Mohammed Alsulami| محمد السلمي @mohalsulami
طائرات عسكرية مجهولة تستهدف مواقع طالبان في وادي بنجشير وعودة للمواجهات بين المعارضة والحركة روسيا؟ طاجيكستان ؟
September 6th 2021
111 Retweets553 Likes
Speculation was rife that the aircraft belonged to the erstwhile Afghan Army that had fled to Tajikistan. The Afghans would have had to surmount a significant logistical challenge to secure fuel, weapons, and crew in a third country for the assault. They would also have had to coordinate with the NRF to fly the mission, but all that isn’t impossible.
But then reports began trickling in that a number of Pakistani soldiers had been slaughtered in the air assault. The aircraft appeared to have targeted Pakistani positions.
Maj Rajpreet Singh Aulakh 
@rajpreetaulakh
Interesting very Interesting information coming out . Air Strikes on Panjshir in support of NRF mainly targeted Pakistan Army operating in Panjshir to support Taliban . Effective loss of Pakistan Army .
September 8th 2021
117 Retweets519 Likes
This was happenstance.
On a completely unrelated note, Ayni in Tajikistan, near the capital Dushanbe, hosts an air base that is jointly operated by the Indian Air Force and the Tajik Air Force. India is rumoured to have stationed a sub-squadron strength detachment of Su-30MKI aircraft there since 2014.
The Su-30MKI is a beast of an aircraft capable of carrying 8x500kg guided weapons
Ayni is roughly 360 km from Panjshir, and the Sukhois have stand-off weapons that can be fired from more than 100 km away.
But if Sukhois were to target Pakistani troops using stand-off munitions, they would require precise intelligence about Pakistani troop positions from within the Panjshir valley. Intelligence of the sort that the former head of the NDS — who happens to have collaborated with India’s intelligence agencies — might be able to provide, for example.
This was a coincidence, of course.
Right around the time when the airstrikes took place on Pakistani troops, resulting in heavy casualties among their elite SSG,
Lt Gen Hameed was summoned back to Rawalpindi in Pakistan. He was marched into the Adjutant General Lt Gen Muhammad Amir’s office and disciplined for his unauthorised visit to Kabul, a humiliating ordeal for a three-star general.
The Adjutant General (AG), Lt General Muhammad Amir, had issued a letter to the DG ISI and asked him to appear before the AG to explain his violation of military disciple. When Lt General Faiz Hameed arrived to attend the hearing at the GHQ (September 10), he was thoroughly humiliated. He was marched into the AG’s office, which means he was cautioned at the door and the ISI flag was stripped of his motor vehicle before it was allowed to enter the GHQ premises.
Lt Gen Hameed accepted the charges and sought pardon from Gen Bajwa.
This is also a coincidence.
In the coming days, people around the world who despise the Pakistani state for its unabashed support of terrorist groups will hope for many more such happy coincidences.
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... Afghanistan lacks: Ore processing facility, Electricity, roads, railways, education(all educated ones squeezed away by US) & most importantly Law & Order.
