Mohammad Fahim Dashty ( 1973 – 4 or 5 September 2021) was an Afghan journalist, politician and military official. In 2021, he served as spokesman of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan during the Republican insurgency in Afghanistan.

Biography

Born around 1973, Dashty was the nephew of Afghan politician, Abdullah Abdullah, and a close associate of the family of the

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...

leader,

Ahmad Shah Massoud ) , branch = Jamiat-e Islami / Shura-e Nazar Afghan Armed Forces United Islamic Front , serviceyears = 1975–2001 , rank = General , unit = , commands = Mujahideen commander during the Soviet–Afghan Wa ...

. He was with Massoud when the latter was killed by a suicide bombing on 9 September 2001. Dashty was badly wounded in the bombing. After the

United States invasion of Afghanistan In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operatio ...

, Dashty founded a newspaper based at

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

and became known for supporting journalists and advocating

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

in Afghanistan. He was a leader of the Afghanistan National Journalist Union (ANJU) as well as a key figure in the Federation for "Afghan Journalists and Media Entities", founded in 2012. In addition, he contributed to the South Asia Press Freedom Report. In 2021, following the takeover of Afghanistan by Taliban, Dashty joined the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan as a spokesman. Beforehand, he had reportedly refused offers of a government post by the Taliban. Dashty was one of the main sources of information in the Panjshir Valley as the Taliban pressed in, issuing statements on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. Shortly before his death, he stated "If we die, history will write about us, as people who stood for their country till the end of the line". On 4 or 5 September 2021, Dashty was killed in combat during the Taliban offensive into Panjshir. His death was confirmed by his friend Noor Rahman Akhlaqi on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

as well as other sources. The Taliban claimed that he had died as they had advanced into

Bazarak Bāzārak is the provincial capital of Panjshir Province, in the Panjshir Valley of northeastern Afghanistan. It is a small city with a total population of 24,723 and has only three police districts ( nahias). The total land area of Bazarak city ...

, capital of the Panjshir Province. In contrast, the

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...

stated that he had died alongside General Abdul Wodo Zara at Dashtak,

Anaba District Anaba District is a district of Panjshir Province, Afghanistan. The estimated population in 2019 was 19,978. On 5 September 2021, Taliban spokesperson Bilal Karimi said that the four districts of Panjshir Province had been captured, including Ana ...

. According to unspecified sources and defense analyst

Babak Taghvaee Babak or Babek may refer to: People * Papak or Babak (c. 222), Persian prince and father (or stepfather) of Ardashir I, founder of the Sasanian Empire * Babak (Sasanian general) (6th century) * Babak Khorramdin (c. 795/798 – 838), Iranian rebel ...

, Dashty was killed by a Pakistani drone strike during the fighting. NRF officials seconded these claims, specifying that Dashty had been killed by a Pakistani drone strike at Anaba. Pakistan and the Taliban denied this, with the latter eventually claiming that Dashy had been shot during a clash between NRF commanders. Reportedly BBC Persian, in an interview with Dashty, leaked a number leading to his location. After his death, former colleagues, associates, and organizations like the ANJU, Afghanistan Independent Journalists' Association (AIJA), and the

released

eulogies A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a ...

in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dashty, M. F. 1970s births 2021 deaths Afghan Tajik people 21st-century Afghan politicians Politicians of Panjshir Province Military personnel killed in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Deaths by drone strikes