“Commander, we are under siege. You may be the last person to hear me. The phone's charge is running out. If I become a martyr, tell our friends that Nuragha was a soldier of that same Ahmad Shah Massoud. From the very beginning, I turned away from everything worldly and chose my path: either freedom or martyrdom. My death will be beautiful as I reach my goal and end so beautifully end my life. Don't forget us when the homeland is liberated!"
Author: Yurish Khorasani, especially for "Sangar"
Nuragha Peshgur, one of the commanders of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, drank the cup of martyrdom in Panjshir. Who was he?
News of his death appeared on social media on June 11, but a day later news broke that he was alive. It caused a stir, and even those who knew for sure about his death were delighted to hear this news.
But he was in heaven...
Nuragha was 47 years old. He was born in the village of Kachavrak in the Peshgur region of the Khinj district of the Panjshir province. His father, Haji Mohammad Karim, was one of the Mujahideen and one of the first men in Panjshir to join Ahmad Shah Massoud's forces and was killed during the war against the Soviets and the communists' regime. Nuraghe was then about 10 years old.
Nuragha Peshghur was one of the group commanders of Tariq, who was a commander of Ahmad Shah Massoud during the First Resistance (1996-2001) and fought against the Taliban in battles in the territory of the Farkhar district of Takhar province. In one of his speeches, he says that he "destroyed the forces of Mullah Zakir (one of the famous Taliban commanders)".
AFTER THE TALIBAN
After the fall of the first Taliban regime in 2001, he joined the Afghan security forces and served in the Ministry of the Interior. At one time he led one of the groups of the security company "Supreme".
Taha Panjsheri, a friend and colleague who is now a commander of the Resistance Front, told Sangar that Supreme was a private company hired by the government to provide security for the fuel convoys.
“We escorted convoys with fuel from the port of Hairatan to the military units of the Afghan National Army in Kandahar, Helmand, and other southern provinces,” he said.
The fuel convoys were an important target for the Taliban, he said, and Nuragha's group repeatedly ran into them along the way and passed many dangers.
“Nuragha was not literate enough, but he had a lot of experience in military arts. Another thing he did not like or did not know how to do at all was to brag and flatter. He showed heroism but did not advertise. Nuragha was a fair man, an honest friend, and a sincere comrade. He never ran for a chair and suffered, when his associates did everything to achieve any position, ” said Taha Panjsheri.
Three years ago, Nuragha's brother Qariagha, an officer in the Afghan National Army, died in the war, leaving four of his children orphans. Nuragha retired and returned to Panjshir to provide for his and his brother's family.
But fate again dragged him to the battlefield. With the fall of the republic in August 2021, he joined the resistance forces and was the commander of the Peshgur base, one of the 27 bases of the National Resistance Front in the Panjshir Valley until his death.
Taha Panjshiri, who also joined Nuragha in the resistance, says that last winter in the Panjshir Mountains was very hard, but he has very fond memories of him.
“Winter cold is one thing, the lack of food is another. Sometimes, when we found wheat flour, our friend named Rakhmatulla kneaded the dough, and I warmed the tandoor. Nuragha baked bread for us. Having finished with the case, he jokingly called out to all the Mujahideen: “My children! Tea is ready!" And we laughed. These were hard and difficult days, but it was nice to be with Nuragha,” said Taha Panjshiri.
Commander Nuragha was also married and had six children, two sons, and four daughters.
The speech of Commander Nuragha, recorded on this video, reflects everything that we have said above. There is pride, courage, and criticism in this record, and what cannot be hidden from the viewer is the sincerity of the commander, the Mujahideen, the patriot, and the citizen.
LAST STAND
On June 10, the Taliban launched a large-scale operation in the Jawkar Valley in Peshghur. On the battlefield, Noragha and two of his comrades, Omid and Golam Mohammad, were in one position, and several youths from Khinj were in the other.
“The Taliban thought that there were a large number of resistance fighters here, so prepared and sent an army of many hundreds. But there were only commander Nuragha and six of his fighters, who resisted for about two days and nights, ” said another interlocutor of Sangar.
He, who is a resident of Peshghur and heard details of the incident from the Panjshir Taliban, said that around 8 pm on June 10, Nuragha called his family and said he was injured and in poor condition.
“An hour later, the Taliban attack with lasers and calls for surrender, but they do not give up, they continue to resist. One of four young fighters, who came to help from Khinj, was wounded and left the battlefield. Later, the other three fighters also left it,” he said.
However, commander Nuragha, Omid, and Gholam Mohammad could not leave the place due to severe wounds and a large number of enemies besieging the area from several sides. They stay put and resist.
According to Sangar's interlocutor, three bullets hit Nuragha's body - once in the chest, one in the stomach, and the third in the leg.
“But he was still fighting until the Taliban come close to them. Nuragha throws a hand grenade at them. As a result, several Taliban were killed and wounded, until two bullets hit him in the neck. When we buried him, we saw two bullets on his neck,” he said.
It was on the morning of Thursday, June 11, 2022, in the Bari Poya mountain of the Jokar valley, in the village of Peshghur. Thus ended the last battle of Commander Nuragha...
IN THE ARMS OF THE PROUD HINDU KUSH
The body of Commander Nuraghi remained with the Taliban. According to Sangar's interlocutor, the Red Cross and Red Crescent received permission from the Taliban to take the body of Nuraghi and his companions and, together with a group of local residents, went to the Jawkar valley.
“Three people from Kachavrak, seven from Ghuzu, three from the surrounding villages, and nine Red Cross and Red Crescent employees, a total of 22 people climbed Mount Bari Poya and Javkar. The Taliban told us that the bodies of two were in the same place, and one was far away. We went and found one of them, who was Nuragha himself, and four hundred meters further on, on the side of a cliff, we found the body of another - Omid. No matter how much we searched, Gholam Mohammad, who was one of Nuragha's relatives, was never found,” he said.
According to him, when Nuragha and Omid were buried and the group descended and reached the Taliban post, one of them showed a video and photo of Nuragha and his companions and said that the body of a third person was at the bottom of the valley on the rocks.
“But it was too late. It was five o’clock in the evening, and if we had gone back it took us two hours. We didn’t go up and went down,” he said.
Commander Nuragha and Omid were buried in the Bari Poya mountain of the Jawkar valley, as they could not be transported to the village and there was a possibility of the inappropriate attitude of the Taliban forces. The body of Ghulam Mohammad has not yet been found. Only his clothes were found, but not himself.
There are two moments left unsaid in this story.
Three days before his death, Commander Nuragha contacted Taha Panjsheri, a 25-year-old acquaintance and friend. In a conversation with him, Taha told him that the Taliban have a plan of operation against him, to be vigilant.
"He laughed and said, 'Commander, I am fully prepared. I will not leave my place in any case when the enemy comes. I resist here to live. He kept his word. He fought bravely and became a martyr," said Taha Panjshiri.
On the night of June 10, having finished talking with his relatives, he called one of the commanders of the Resistance Front and finally said:
“Commander, we are under siege. You may be the last person to hear me. The phone's charge is running out. If I become a martyr, tell our friends that Nuragha was a soldier of that same Ahmad Shah Massoud. From the very beginning, I turned away from everything worldly and chose my path: either freedom or martyrdom. My death will be beautiful as I reach my goal and end my life so beautifully. Don't forget us when the homeland is liberated!"
Truly, there is no more beautiful death than the death of a Mujahideen who sacrifices his life for the freedom of his homeland and acquired as a gift of fate his last home in the arms of the eternally proud Hindu Kush...
