Author: Dr Fazel Mahmood Fazly

March 9, 1989, The evening broadcast of the BBC Afghan Service: “The Mujahideen have reached within one kilometer of Jalalabad city. The city is on the verge of collapse. In the past 24 hours alone, more than 5,000 rockets have been fired at the city, and its defensive lines have collapsed.” On the frontlines, the fighting was fierce and relentless but just as intense was the propaganda war. Media outlets supporting the U.S.-backed jihad amplified narratives designed to shape perception. Rumors spread among the residents of Jalalabad that on March 10, General Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan’s ISI,…

By Dr. Fazel Mahmood Fazly For nearly two centuries, Afghanistan has been subjected to a barrage of narratives crafted by colonial powers to define our identity, history, and culture. These accounts, disseminated through global media, academia, and literature, have distorted the Afghan worldview, compelling us and the world to see our nation through the lens of empire. This essay is not merely an act of historical correction, but an assertion of intellectual sovereignty, a return to narratives grounded in Afghan experience, dignity, and truth. A History of Imperial Narratives Afghanistan’s modern history has been shaped by three major waves of…

Author: Fazel Mahmood FazlyAugust 13, 2025 Afghanistan’s recent 35-year history has been filled with severe crises and ups and downs. There is a need for an in-depth historical analysis of the country’s politics — from the dark decade of the 1990s, through the formation and eventual collapse of the Republic, to the current Taliban oppression. The Dark Decade of the 1990s and the Beginning of the Republic Before discussing the 20-year period of the Republic, its fall, the current situation, and the future, it is necessary to reflect briefly on the pre-Republic era. This decade, which came when Afghanistan was on the…