General Abdul Malik's forces took control of the northern provinces and dismantled General Dostum's glamorous rug. The important city of Mazar-e-Sharif fell to the “Taliban”. “Taliban” and their Arab and Pakistani allies entered the north
Author: Abdul Hafiz Mansour,
from the book "Conqueror of the Cold War"
Within ten days, the “Taliban” occupied ten northern and northeastern provinces. In some parts of Badakhshan province, white flags were raised in their support. Only Panjshir Valley stood to resist, but it could be attacked from five directions. Andarab was in turmoil. Pakistan officially recognized the Taliban and declared its support. Pakistani Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan announced that the Taliban would soon arrest Ustad Rabbani, General Dustum, and Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Ustad Burhanuddin Rabbani, the head of the Afghan state, hurriedly left Taloqan and took refuge in Tajikistan—Ustad Sayyaf lived in Kunduz and was under siege but after great difficulty, he was also able to get to Tajikistan. General Dostum was the first to leave for Uzbekistan, then to Turkey with his closest associates. Said Mansur Naderi, leader of the Ismaili sect, fled to Uzbekistan by helicopter. Ustad Abdul Karim Khalili, leader of the Islamic Unity Party, remained in Bamiyan, but a helicopter was ready to take him overseas.
In such a situation, what was going on in Panjshir (resistance center)?
The “Taliban” had cut off the roads to Panjshir for a long time, and the price of wheat had risen to 300,000 afghanis. Several thousand Mujahideen from Parvan, Kapisa, and northern Kabul came to Panjshir. Most families in the valley didn't have bread, they ate mulberries and talhan. The level of starvation was so high that several people died in the Rokha hospital in Panjshir due to several days of starvation.
From Talukan, two helicopters brought baked bread to Panjshir for the Mujahideen. Even this act of humanity would not be possible on the days clouds filled the sky. There was nothing left in Massoud's treasury other than a few hundred thousand Afghanis.
A few weeks earlier, Ahmad Shah Massoud wanted to sell his personal vehicles in Mazar-e-Sharif in order to raise money, and in the presence of many commanders who all voted to sell him, I objected to it for various reasons. The content is already in the meeting book and as a result, their sale was prevented.
In this dire situation, it was expected that morale would continue dropping. Every day, we went to the office with our colleagues in a jeep, led by Engineer Mohammad Ishaq. People were worried and their hands were barely raised to greet one another. Engineer Ishaq, who was egregious in his resistance to events and had a little interest in poetry, whispered Hafez's words on the way:
Shabe toriku bimi mavju girdobe chunin hoil,
Kujo donand holi mo, sabuksoroni sohilho.
(A dark night and fear of wave and a buffer of such whirlpool,
How do they know how we are, the beach's people)
That day we were going to write an editorial for the weekly "Payam-e Mojahedin". Only God knows how much I walked along the raging river that day to find an ally, but I couldn't as if all were dead that day...
Near the humble home of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the order and discipline of the guards were disturbed. Massoud's commander had two rooms—one had a telecommunication device, and in the other room, on the 4th night of Javza 1376 (May 25th 1997) a meeting of the leaders of Panjshir front under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Massoud began. 
Every few minutes, the news of a districts' surrender was being reported. “Taliban” seized the Salang Road and their forces connected with two ways.
Mullah Obaidullah, the Taliban's defense minister, and another prominent Mujahideen commander in Salang, who had surrendered to the Taliban, called Massoud to surrender, saying the resistance was futile and...
The rapid Taliban advance had terrified Central Asian countries. They were trying to establish contact with them. Ustad Rabbani telephoned Massoud from Tajikistan and informed him that politics had changed and they were no longer ready to cooperate, you must think about your own salvation, which also meant, you must run away...
And Massoud Khalili, the Afghan ambassador to Delhi, Ahmad Wali Massoud, the brother of Ahmad Shah Massoud in London, and another group sent similar messages, emphasizing to Massoud that resistance was futile and that you should leave the country.
The intelligence personnel had cut ties with the intelligence service and developed a plan to withdraw Massoud from the country. Fahim Khan and others, who at times disagreed with Ahmad Shah Massoud's policies, must gain power in Panjshir and prevent massacres in Panjshir through the negotiations with the “Taliban”.
At the Panjshir summit, only one person called the resistance useless and damaging and offered to negotiate with the Taliban, but the others rejected it and considered it harmful, but it was not clear whether this resistance was aimed at saving the country or committing suicide.
Our destination is the power of Massoud's realism, while several of Massoud's prominent figures and partners had sought refuge abroad, calling the resistance fruitless. The consultation began. One proposed the mass evacuation of Panjshir and the departure of the people to Tajikistan before the resistance, so that later the Mujahideen could fight in peace. Certainly, the mass evacuation was neither possible nor useful in such circumstances.
Another presented the endings of the Holy Quran throughout the mosques of Panjshir. The third considered the presence of women and children in the region necessary for the Mujahedin to defend hard.
The future of Afghanistan was tied to the decision of this meeting, especially to the will of Ahmad Shah Massoud, and millions of Afghans were waiting for his decision.
During the meeting, Gholam Reza Haddadi, Iran's ambassador to Afghanistan, called Massoud and his first question was:
- Amir Sahib! Are you still inside?
Amir Sahib said in a tone, resulting from several days of sleeplessness, but resolutely replied:
- What do you think? I must be among my people and killed among them...!
Haddadi's second question was:
- What can we do?
Amir Sahib said:
- If you can, send canned food as soon as possible by air, we will resist...
That night, on BBC radio, Amir Sahib announced,: "If I remain alone, I will not surrender and run away, but I will resist!"
This voice excited thousands of Mujahideen, and made people under the oppression of the “Taliban” wonder what kind of man he is and what is the secret of this solidity? 
He proposed such a plan to continue the resistance in Panjshir.
1 - The commando unit should mine the rear roads of Panjshir at the border of Manjan and Khavak so that the enemy could not attack from behind.
2 - The camps of the jihad era, which were in the depths of the sub-valleys, should be reactivated.
3 - Families who can voluntarily leave Panjshir should be encouraged to consume less food.
4 - The Kokcha bridge in Takhar province should be blown up so that the “Taliban” cannot advance beyond the Kokcha area.
5 - In order to continue the resistance in Panjshir, we should be consulted with ulema and elders, because if the people do not want the war to continue, another way should be considered. The next day, a meeting was held with representatives from all over Panjshir and everyone said in unison:
“We will all die but we will not surrender to the Taliban!”
They suggested to Amir Sahib Massoud that the youth in the Shimali (north to Kabul) must attack and cut off “Taliban's way to the north, and the old men all will defend Panjshir.
In that issue, Payam-e-Mojahedin weekly did not find anything better than the poetry of Abdul Qahar Asi "My dear land"…
6 - To Contact General Abdul Malik and encourage him to revolt before consolidating his influence in the north, but he was ashamed that he handed over Amir Ismail Khan with 600 of his mujahids to the “Taliban” under his command, and he is unable to contact the faction.
Based on this decision, Amir Sahib tried to contact Abdul Malik and Ghafoorzi facilitated it. Massoud encouraged Malik to revolt and expressed his support for him, which resulted in the death of about 3000 Talibs the next day.
These decisions were not made by any research institute and were not planned by experts along the shores but were made by Massoud in a situation that was described, and this is demonstrated not only his steadfastness and endurance but most importantly, his ability to be realistic in a difficult situation.
It was there that I understood the concept of realism very well, and that was one of the divine gifts for Massoud that can never be found before.
