Qarhat: What about Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden?

Al-Muhajir: Osama has sworn allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful Ameerul Mumineen, Mullah Omar, an allegiance that means total obedience. They are both in good health, contrary to what has been reported by the American and "Americanized" mass-media.

Qarhati: Where does Palestine fit into your agenda?

Al-Muhajir: It is presently found in ours hearts and in ours existence. It is our final destination, however there are obstacles in reaching it at the present time. As to the fight with the Americans, it is indeed like fighting the Jews. They are the other face of the Israeli oppression.

Qarhati: How do you explain the quick withdrawal of the Taliban, especially from Kabul?

Al-Muhajir: Concerning the intense war between the Taliban and the Americans and concerning how the Americans were able to reach Kabul so easily, these are questions that arise from many tongues and from many media organizations. I will answer them from the perspective of someone who has lived this scenario.

There are many reasons for what happened, one cannot ignore any of them or blame one reason over another. The main cause is the lack in preparations and equipment in comparison to the Americans. The difference in the variety of weaponry has greatly affected the battle since the beginning. It enabled the American to undertake various attacks that the Taliban that the Afghan state was not able to cope with. I say this even though the afghan people adhered completely to their country. In such a way that it was hard to distinguish between the Taliban movement as an official corporation and between the people's movement. The proof is that weapons were being distributed to the people and they were allowed to patrol the street with them, something that wasn't allowed before the war. This also applied to the brothers who came from abroad to support and give strength to the Taliban, to both Arab and non-Arab Muslims.

In reality, the battle was waged since the very beginning from the air. Various kinds of aircrafts were noticed; we counted at least 6 types and each type was used for a very specific task. There are the aircraft that carry tons of explosives; there are also aircraft that carry light explosives and high-caliber machineguns that target convoys and vehicles. There are aircraft that are equipped with heavy explosives and heavy machineguns that target complexes, trenches and caves and aircraft that are used for landings on the ground apart from a variety of other weapons.

The Taliban wasn't equipped for this kind of combat; they found themselves isolated in a war that they didn't launched and prepare for sufficiently. This isolation was increased by the abandonment of friends and possible allies like Pakistan, Iran, Russia or China, because the American sanctions encompassed them all. Therefore the Taliban had to confront the American invasion alone and without any allies.

In spite of this all, the Taliban was able to put up stiff resistance. Kabul for example was able to resist the onslaught for more than six weeks while undergoing an air campaign that got monotonous after a while. Due to the absence of military compounds and targets, the American aircrafts started bombing civilians, residential buildings, schools and hospitals.

At this time, the citizens as well as the resistance fighters acknowledged that they were fighting an unfair war. They were also unable to bear the sacrifice of anymore civilian lives. The bombs were harvesting a lot of women, children and elderly, without particularly causing any harm to the Taliban. When Kabul fell, it wasn't really the frontlines that were taken down. It was the desire of minimizing the civilian targets that accounted for most of the casualties resulting from the air campaign. This move took precedent over all other considerations. It was the American air campaign that allowed the so-called "Northern Alliance" to enter the capital. These forces were unable to wage battle without the "carpet bombing" donated by the Americans.

I say this again, the multitude of air born attacks that hit the civilian rear lines pushed the Commander of the Faithful, Ameerul Mumineer, Mullah Omar, to issue instructions to the Military Commanders, asking them to take whatever steps they deem necessary. These Commanders felt that the civilians were most targeted, so they finally decided to retreat. The very fierce and intense campaign was waged with uneven weapons and using children and women as human shields was out of the question. Indeed when the Americans confronted us face to face on the ground in Shah-e-kot, they learned a few lessons that will teach them the art of fighting. The air force was present there too, but we were in a better position to deal with that weapon.

About 200 fighters took part in this confrontation, unlike the 2,000 figure which was propagated at the time. There were 120 fighters who belonged to the "Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan" and about 40 fighters under the command of Mawlawi Sayfulrahman Mansoor. There were also about 30 Arab brothers fighting, most of whom were hardened military experts that received their combat experience in and out of Afghanistan. Therefore no civilians were there and only 200 of us participated. We waged a fierce battle and there was confrontation with the enemy. A wide variety of trenches and natural barriers were also available. When the Americans arrived with their air force, they were unable to do any real damage during the course of their battle so consequently they decided to send in the ground troops.

Prior to this, they sent us nine truckloads of "Apostate forces" [Afghan American allies]. We were able to finish them all and Commander Sayfulrahman was able to confiscate all their weapons. After that they all started crying like women. At the end, we released the survivors. They escaped from our sights and from Allah, just like a child run away from something that scares him. With this, the Americans decided to send forth their soldiers.

During the first day, they sent down 3 units, each in a different location. Each unit contained at least 50 soldiers. One of these units was countered by only 3 Mujahideen, one of them equipped with machine guns with 250 extra shots, nothing more. The second one was equipped with a normal machine gun and 2 rocket-propelled grenades. And the third one carried 2 machine guns with six magazines of ammo. These Mujahideen fighters alone were able to elude and vanquish this advancement without outside help, before being supported by another 15 fighters.