Abdul Apostle Sayyaf, former Commander of Mujahidin and Parliamentary members based in India, are seen as a possible leader who can collect anti-Taliban forces from Afghanistan which are currently scattered in several countries.
Sayyaf, which is believed to be in the mid-70s, has been debated as someone who can unite a variety of groups because it stands as a scholar and senior Pashtun leader, people who are familiar with the development of the terms of anonymity.
He has been based in New Delhi after the fall of the Government of Ashraf Ghani and the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in mid-August. Sayyaf’s name was pushed forward as Ahmad Massoud, son of the legendary commander Ahmad Shah Massoud and the founder of the Afghan National Front Resistance, has had a little success in bringing together different groups, said people.
Massoud and Amrululah Saleh, former Afghan’s eyes and vice-president’s eyes were seen as potential heads of the power of resistance but their shares had beaten since the fall of the Panjshir valley to the Taliban in September. Massoud is currently believed to operate from Paris and Dushanbe, while Saleh was reportedly based in the capital of Tajikistan recently in October.
“Ahmad Massoud did not have the same number of experiences as a commander as his father. Saleh, on the other hand, is a good tactic but does not have a popular base,” said one of the people quoted above.
“If they have worked closely, they might be able to collect effective resistance,” the person added.
Even though Saleh had claimed the power of the President of Afghanistan and declared his head of government in exile, people said he did not have mass followers.
Ustad Sayyaf, because the former commander of the Mujahideen is known to be popular, respected by Islamic scholars and in the Pashtun circle, people noted. Not immediately clear whether Sayaf himself agreed to take a greater role to bring together various groups against the Taliban.
A large number of Afghan politicians have taken refuge in Turkey, while a fairly large number is based on the Iranian capital of Tehran. Some anti-Taliban groups are also spread in Central Asia, especially Tajikistan.
Sayyaf was once associated with the founder of Al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden and militants who controlled Kabul after the collapse of the Communist government in the early 1990s. As a former leader of the northern alliance, he had made contact with Indian diplomats and security officials for years.
Sayyaf last played an important role in Afghan politics in 2019, when Ghani chose him to lead Loya Jirga or Grand Council for peace efforts with the Taliban. Sayyaf is also very critical of the Taliban.
This development comes at a certain time when there is also a division in the Taliban rank, especially between the hardline of the Haqqani network and members of the DOHA-based political office. Several leaders from the Doha office, including Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar and Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, has supported a more moderate approach.
“The Taliban wrestles with several problems, including the lack of internal cohesion, poor governance, future economic collapse and a surge in attack by the Islamic state,” said the second person.