KABUL: Since trading the battlefield for Afghanistan’s halls of power, some Taliban members have also swapped their weapons for pens to tell their version of the 20-year conflict with Western forces, who they accuse of distorting “reality”.

A flood of books has been written, mostly from a Western perspective, about the war between the US-led forces that invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks until the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.

But in the years since, a proliferation of writings by Taliban figures — praising their exploits and the achievements of the “Islamic Emirate” — is now the reigning narrative in Afghanistan.

“No matter what foreigners have written... they have largely ignored the reality of what happened to us and why we were forced to fight,” author Khalid Zadran said.

A member of the Haqqani network — long viewed as one of the most dangerous factions in Afghanistan — he now serves as spokesman for the capital’s police force.

In his 600-page tome in Pashto published in April, he recounts US incursions in his home province of Khost, his childhood steeped in stories of soldiers’ atrocities, and his desire to join the Taliban.

“I witnessed horrific stories every day — mangled bodies on the roadside,” he writes in 15 Minutes, a title inspired by a US drone strike he narrowly escaped.

Muhajer Farahi, now a deputy information and culture minister, penned his Memories of Jihad: 20 Years in Occupation to “state the facts”, he said.

“America, contrary to its claims, has committed cruel and barbaric acts, destroyed our country with bombs, destroyed infrastructure, and has sown discord and cynicism between nations and tribes,” he said from his office in central Kabul.

Farahi insists the Taliban “were cautious in saving civilians and innocent” lives, while criticising fellow Afghans who collaborated with the pro-Western police as a “stain” on the country.

In his book published in 2023, Farahi claims the Taliban attempted to negotiate — in vain, he insists — with the United States over the fate of Osama bin Laden.

American ‘bloodthirsty dragon’

“It was clear... that the Americans had already planned the occupation of Afghanistan,” writes Farahi in the English version of his book, which has been translated into five languages.

In the wake of the Sept 11 attacks, Afghans thought it would “have nothing to do with our country”, he continues, but soon realised that Afghanistan would face “punishment”.

For 20 years, the war pitted Taliban against a US-led bloc of 38 countries. Tens of thousands of Afghans died in the fighting and in Taliban attacks, as did nearly 6,000 foreign soldiers, including 2,400 Americans.

For Farahi, the war reflects the West’s desire to “impose its culture and ideology on other nations”.

His disjointed journal mixes battlefield memories with polemical chapters railing against the American “bloodthirsty dragon”.

The book “reveals the truths that were not told before because the media, especially the Western media, presented a different picture of the war”, he said.

According to him, the Mujahideen, despite being far less equipped, were able to rely on their unity and God’s aid to achieve victory.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2025