The Khelab of Khosts base (located in the province of Baghlan) served not only during the jihad against the Soviets, but also during the first period of resistance, and now - in the second period of resistance - has again become a stronghold of the struggle for the freedom of Afghanistan from ignorance, extremism, and terrorism.
The Andarabs and Khosts in the Second Resistance, which continues today, opened another golden page in the history of this struggle. Although the founder of this base is not physically present, his restless spirit is at war in these foothills (Sangar).
Author: Saleh Mohammad Registani,
From the book "Masud and Freedom"
Khelab, as it were, was originally created by God as a partisan base. A valley with great heights and covered with fir trees and thorns, the streams flow from the side valleys, and together they form the river Khelab. With very little agricultural land and a small population, people live in remote villages of small valleys. Among them are the valleys of Shira, Mandara, Ishul, Anjiristan, Guzargohi Nur (Passage of Light).
Winters were so cold that a small cloud was enough to cause a cold wind, and hot summers made it a haven for predators and reptiles. Who first thought of choosing this distant and unfamiliar valley as the central base for spreading the war of liberation in the Northern Territories?
Undoubtedly, this man was Ahmad Shah Massoud. With accurate predictions and calculations, he had previously ordered to create caves in some places of the mountains and set up camp when the Mujahideen commanders competed for fertile land near the cities.
Amir Sahib was working in the north at a time when he concluded a ceasefire with the Russians, winning time. The Sharshar meeting in Ishkamish, Takhar province in 1362 (1983) was the first consultative meeting that paved the way for the establishment of the Shuroi Nazzor (Supervisory Board), which included such important commanders as Arianpour and Najmuddin Wasik from Badakhshan, Kazi Islamuddin, Seyyed Ikramuddin Agha, Seyed Ahmad Ruyin (Amir Mujahid), Abdul Wadud, Dr. Seyed Hussain, Sarmuallim Tariq from Takhar, Aref Khan Zahil from Kunduz, Abdul Hai Khan and Dr. Mehdi from Baghlan. However, the name of the Supervisory Board was proposed and approved by the late Marshal Fahim at a meeting held in Khavak in 1986, according to Dr. Mehdi, who was one of the participants, but the main work on its creation was already well underway.
Seyed Ikramuddin Agha, with his unparalleled self-sacrifice, fully offered the territory of Helab to advance the goals of Shuroi Nazzor, of which he himself was one of the founders. The areas under Shuroi Nazzor's control were connected to the Khelab base, and besides having enough population to recruit and enough space for military maneuvers, they also had enough conditions to adopt order. The Khelab base was as important to the Amir Sahib as the historical fortress of Alamut to Hasan Sabah. Not only was it a narrow valley with high mountains, but neither the cities nor the Soviet and state military centers were connected to it by a highway.
For the "active defense" phase, a good defensive position and for the strategic offensive phase paved the way for the important provinces of Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz, and Baghlan. The main aim of Amir Sahib for the locals was to restore order, and his main job was to put in order the affairs of people who were shocked by instability. In dividing villages into military bases, he proceeded from their importance in combat operations, military, and public order, and law and order, in accordance with the conditions and needs there.
Each district was headed by a jihad commander. He was in charge of civil and military affairs. The creation of mobile and attacking units, the provision of justice through the formation of the Ulema Council, the Investigative Committee, the Judicial Committee, the provision of social services such as the construction of roads and bridges by the Reconstruction Committee, the establishment or strengthening of schools and colleges were their duties. But the most conspicuous and conspicuous order was the attire, in which the Amir Sahib himself was a model. Trousers, jumper with pakul and scarves. Therefore, we were called "Nazmians" - people of order. To this day, in many villages in the north and northeast, scarves are called military scarves, and pakuls are called “Nazmian” hats.
In our opinion, Amir Sahib not only had extraordinary human abilities and talent, but they also thought that he was being held by some heavenly hand, so they did not think about his problems, and he himself from time to time expressed his human fears and concerns. He was doing something akin to walking on the Pole Sirot (Sirot Bridge)* - a narrow, dark bridge with the risk of failing. From time to time he recounted his dreams, which were a reflection of his unconscious conscience.
“I dreamed that I was stuck in an abyss and held myself so tightly that I didn’t fall.”
Or: “One night I dreamed of Ustad Habiba ur-Rahman (the late engineer Habiba ur-Rahman - his teacher) who joined us. I told him about my work and said that we had reached this point. After that, you will know and do something.”
Sometimes I wondered who this Habib ur-Rahman was, who was considered great by a man like Massoud, who sometimes characterized the greatest politicians and leaders of the region of his time with a dry and eloquent phrase: "He understands (politics)"!
“He showed the goal, but did not show the way to achieve the goal, so his followers were confused about the choice of the path (strategy and tactics),” he said of Sayyid Qutb (leader of the Ikhwanists).
However, what talent did he see in this young boy from Nijrab, who died in his third year at the Polytechnic University, whose image of a leader and mentor was still imprinted in his mind in the midst of his victories and international fame?
A list of some of his big problems was as follows:
- The pro-Soviet government considered his movements a flight, and the famous comedian of the state radio and television, Mirza Qalam, made a story on this topic, which Hashemi Takhari always repeated for fun. One day he reminded the Amir Sahib of this as well. It was addressed to him too: “Bachai Dustak bar vazni pustak! Az i kuh ba u kuh! Malahak yak bor jasti, du bor jasti, okhir ba dasti!”. Literal translation: “Son of Dustak by the weight of a skin! From this mountain to that mountain! The locust jumped once, jumped twice, finally fell into the hands!” (State comedians ridiculed Masoud. His father's name was Dustmuhammad. And the mention of mountains indicates that Masud was hiding from the enemy in the mountains).
- The Islamic Party viewed the Panjshir War after the ceasefire with the Russians as a hoax, and the creation of Shuroi Nazzor as a joint plot by Massoud and the Soviets against the Mujahideen, especially the Islamic Party. Mawlawi Ajabgul, the commander of the IP in Ishkamish, during his speech in the Friday prayer, ridiculing, said that Masud, instead of fighting, digs caves for us.
- Despite the noble approval of Shahid Ustad Rabbani, some people at the leadership level of the Jamiat Islami (Islamic Society) in Peshawar, considered the creation of Shuroi Nazzor as a split in the party and the creation of a new one, and the presence of some former Al-Hadeed members and non-ikhwani intellectuals in its administrative and political sectors, they saw sufficient reasons for deviating from the principles and goals of the Jamiat. These disagreements were not ineffective and created problems and obstacles.
- Some Jamiat commanders, who were themselves the so-called kings of their territories and received financial and military resources directly from Peshawar, did not feel the need for another higher commander who limited their powers and something to resist their abuses and comforts.
- The Russians were in an ambush of the Nazmis, in order, as in 1363 (1984), to attack from the air and land, to bring people to the point that they rebelled against them. In order to prevent the Russians from invading the region, the order was simultaneously restored at the bases of Farkhar and Varsaj, Khost and Firing, Ishkamish and Kishm.
Dr. Abd al-Rahman was appointed chief in the center of Shura, Dr. Mehdi - Amir in Andarab, Hashemi Tahari in Farkhar and Warsaj, Seyyed Yahya Agha in Khost and Firing. And also Seyyed Ikramuddin Agha in Khelab and Ishkamish, and Arianpur in Kishm were responsible for their territories. These personalities were considered the most important and close associates of the Amir Sahib.
Khelab had military training centers where various groups trained. Civilian and military medical centers were also set up, and it was there that the plan for major operations was created, as a result of which the largest Soviet sabotage operation failed. I think it was after the defeat of the Russians in Khelab that Amir Sahib, in his ascetic style, became proud of her: "I will receive a reward from God for creating this base"!
* Andarab - Deh Saloh, Banu and Puli Hisar districts, Baghlan province
** Khusts - districts of Khust and Firing, Helob, Guzargokhi Nur
*** Sirat (Arabic way) - in Islamic eschatology, a bridge that is located above the fiery underworld.
In the photos: Khelab base of Khosts 1980s
