How the Pentagon Saved Qari Fasihuddin from Death
Author: Farid Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief of “Sangar”
Qari Fasihuddin prides himself on having defeated America and liberated Afghanistan from American occupation. But if it weren’t for the Americans, today a layer of grass would already be growing on his grave. If it weren’t for the Pentagon, he would not be the Chief of Staff of the Taliban army today. Qari Sahib Fasihuddin, after every prayer, should raise his hands to the sky and pray for America or recite several rak‘ats of Nafl prayer daily, because thanks to the Americans, he is alive, walks on the earth, and enjoys his life and his position.
A source, citing Asadullah Wardujdi, the former head of security in Warduj district of Badakhshan province, who now lives in Iran, says that Qari Fasihuddin was saved from death during one of the battles of the Republic era by order of the Pentagon — the United States Department of Defense.
In 2016, the Afghan government forces and NATO planned a joint operation to eliminate Qari Fasihuddin. The operation was led by an American captain who had arrived from Kabul. Intelligence reported Qari Fasihuddin’s presence in the village of Rakshan in Warduj district. The Americans connected a “Giga Wave” device to a reconnaissance aircraft and began pinpointing his exact location. They located him very quickly. The device confirmed the presence of five armed individuals in one of the guesthouses in Rakshan village.
EXPLANATION: Giga Wave is a portable device that connects to reconnaissance and strike aircraft, allowing them to observe a battlefield from the air. The Americans provided the Afghan army with PS-12 reconnaissance aircraft, which only recorded video (several of these aircraft still exist in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). The Americans themselves had MC-12 aircraft, which both recorded video and carried out strikes. Another aircraft, ISR, had two variants: one purely for reconnaissance and the other for reconnaissance and strike. Thus, operations carefully planned and carried out with American participation were monitored in real time by the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the Pentagon — the U.S. Department of Defense.
An American officer asked Asadullah if he could identify Qari Fasihuddin. The answer was yes. He was then brought to the device, which showed the people in the guesthouse. Qari Fasihuddin was lying on his side, wearing a thin kagma coat, with a Kalashnikov beside him. Asadullah recognized him.
The American said that it was impossible to strike Qari Fasihuddin inside the village because civilians, homes, and property could be harmed. Therefore, they planned to strike when he left the village. Eventually, Fasihuddin left the guesthouse, exited the village, and turned left toward the village of Gachan. The American officer ordered the aircraft to destroy the target. The aircraft reported: “We’ll be ready in one minute to strike.” But in that very minute, the Afghan Ministry of Defense contacted the American officer and reported that the Pentagon had ordered the operation to be halted.
The American was so angry and confused that he banged his head on the table and exclaimed:
“How is this possible? The target is slipping from our hands! Why wasn’t I allowed to destroy Fasihuddin?”
He gathered his belongings and left.
IF IT WEREN’T FOR AGA KHAN
Another source — a former officer of the Joint Operations Special Unit “Fatuhat Mushtarak” (KKA), commonly known as the “commandos” of the Afghan Armed Forces — says he participated in approximately a hundred night operations and witnessed similar situations many times.
EXPLANATION: The KKA special units (Qetae Khas Komandu) were formed from personnel of the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior, and the National Security Directorate of Afghanistan. They operated with direct financial and air support from the U.S. and conducted all their operations at night. For about seven years, their commander was General Jalal Yaftali, and in recent years — Khalid Amiri. Both are now commanders of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan.
There were targets for which, when the KKA special forces went out at night, the operation was immediately halted if it was discovered that American liaisons or Taliban cooperating with the U.S. were present. Our source recounted similar cases in Logar, Wardak, Helmand, Uruzgan, and other provinces, when American aircraft flew over Taliban bases — where their flags, personnel, and motorcycles were visible — but did not touch them, instead carrying out minor operations elsewhere and then returning to base.
The KKA special forces in Badakhshan once engaged in combat with Qari Fasihuddin. In May 2017, the Taliban under his command, with the support of foreign terrorists from Central Asia and Chinese Uyghurs, captured the Zebak and Ishkashim districts. At that time, Qari Fasihuddin was the Taliban-appointed “governor” of Badakhshan, and Qari Amanuddin was his chief commander.
The capture of these two districts was a joint project of Afghan and American intelligence agencies, aimed at deploying the Taliban in these areas of Badakhshan, near the border with Tajikistan. However, Aga Khan IV, the leader of the Ismailis worldwide, expressed strong concern about the situation and demanded that the Afghan government liberate these two districts from the Taliban and terrorists as quickly as possible.
The residents of Zebak, Ishkashim, Shighnan, and Wakhan — four districts of Badakhshan — are predominantly followers of Ismailism, a Shia branch of Islam, and there were serious concerns that armed extremists would show them no mercy.
The operation to liberate Ishkashim and Zebak was led by Mavlawi Jalal, commander of the KKA. Two weeks later, the districts were cleared of Taliban and terrorists, but this was Mavlawi Jalal’s last battle as KKA commander. In that fight, seven of his fighters were killed, and he was removed from his position under this pretext.
Mavlawi Jalal himself told the author that when he returned to Faizabad after liberating Zebak and Ishkashim, two American generals came to him and sharply complained about why he had liberated these two districts.
Before the fall of Ishkashim and Zebak, the Americans and the Afghan National Directorate of Security had provided forces under Qari Fasihuddin’s command with a large amount of weapons and equipment. He was given arms and even vehicles that were also used by the Afghan army. Everything was new, and when it fell into the hands of government forces, it was clear that these were not war trophies but deliberately provided to the Taliban.
“THE RESURRECTED”
An officer from the 777th Special Air Brigade of the Afghan Ministry of Defense recounted another operation in Warduj district of Badakhshan province, conducted against Qari Fasihuddin’s forces, in which he personally participated.
Warduj had been under Taliban control for nearly five years and was their main stronghold in northeastern Afghanistan. It was commanded by Qari Fasihuddin. In this area, fighters from Al-Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Jamaat Ansarullah, and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement — Uyghurs from China — were present and had established their bases. This situation greatly alarmed civil society and anti-Taliban circles in Badakhshan, who demanded that the government take action. Local militia forces warned that if the government and NATO did not intervene, they would carry out the operation themselves. Some accused the authorities and foreigners of “Taliban-building” or “Talibanization.” The scandal became too loud. The Afghan Ministry of Defense and the American army, to prevent their plans from being exposed — which in fact did involve “Talibanizing” the region — were forced to intervene.
EXPLANATION: In Badakhshan, NATO units from Germany, Denmark, and Belgium were present, but they did not participate in operations. The Americans provided air support to government forces from Bagram Air Base.
In September 2019, the special units of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior, the National Security, and local militia forces launched a joint operation to liberate Warduj. They were supported from the air by the 777th Special Air Brigade of the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Air Force.
A few days later, the Taliban and foreign terrorist groups were defeated and forced to leave the area. The Afghan Ministry of Defense stated that during the operation to liberate Warduj, around 100 local and foreign Taliban were killed or wounded, including Qari Fasihuddin — the Taliban-appointed “governor” of Badakhshan—along with dozens of their key military commanders, and not a single government soldier was harmed.
The news of Fasihuddin’s death shocked the public and, above all, dispelled fears of the Taliban and their terrorist allies in Badakhshan. The Afghan government and the U.S. demonstrated to the people that “Talibanization” was nothing more than a myth, and suspicions of support for the Taliban and terrorists were fabricated by critics.
In reality, Qari Fasihuddin was alive. After the defeat, his forces retreated to the pass between Warduj and the Khostak Gorge. There, he held a meeting with his commanders and said they had two options: either surrender to the government or follow him. He and Qari Amanuddin decided to move to Nuristan province.
EXPLANATION: A former officer of the Afghan National Security in Kunduz province explains that at that time most commanders and fighters of Al-Qaeda were in Nuristan province, including Mavlawi Shabir Ahmad, the head of security in Jawzjan province during the first Taliban regime and one of Osama bin Laden’s close associates, now a leader of the Islamic Emirate. Qari Fasihuddin was also a member of Al-Qaeda and maintained contact with Shabir. He recruited local commanders in northern Afghanistan into Al-Qaeda. The accuracy of this information is uncertain, but the fact that the Americans protected Qari Fasihuddin as if he were a guardian angel indicates that he was a very important figure in Afghanistan’s covert intelligence operations.
When Qari Fasihuddin and Qari Amanuddin were leaving the area and crossing the mountains toward Mount Hirsak in Jurm district, they received a call from the Afghan Ministry of Defense informing them that the operation had been halted and that the Americans wanted them to return and reclaim their positions.
The government forces that had liberated Warduj positioned themselves in the village of Zu at the end of the Warduj valley. They were ordered to retreat. The defensive line was moved to the village of Gnev, 7 kilometers from Chokaron — the center of Warduj district. Fasihuddin returned and stationed himself in Zu. He quickly rebuilt his forces and continued fighting the government for another two and a half years.
Finally, in July 2021, one month before the fall of Kabul, the Afghan Ministry of Defense forces handed over Warduj to Fasihuddin without a fight, following the orders of Bismillah Khan Muhammadi, the Minister of Defense.
