Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, has warned that Afghanistan has once again become a global centre for militant training under Taliban rule, accusing the group of dragging the country back into repression, extremism, and international isolation.
Addressing the “Meetings for the Future” conference in Saint-Raphaël, France, Massoud said the Taliban’s return to power had turned Afghanistan into a breeding ground for violent extremism. He urged the international community to keep Afghanistan high on the global agenda and to maintain political and judicial pressure on the Taliban regime.
Massoud stated that his movement did not choose armed resistance as a goal but was forced into it after repeated attempts for dialogue were rejected by the Taliban. “Our struggle is not for power but for the right of Afghans to decide their own future for a system where women and girls can learn, work, and live with dignity,” he said.
He drew parallels between the Taliban’s current rule and its brutal regime of the 1990s, asserting that despite two decades of global engagement, the group’s ideology remains unchanged. “The Taliban have not evolved they continue to suppress women, silence dissent, and impose medieval restrictions on society,” Massoud noted.
The NRF leader warned that the world’s attention toward Afghanistan was waning amid other global crises, allowing the Taliban to deepen their repressive control. He called on the international community to sustain humanitarian support while maintaining sanctions and withholding diplomatic recognition from the Taliban. “These are simple but powerful steps that can help millions of Afghans,” he said.
Massoud emphasised that democracy, women’s rights, and freedom of expression values shared by Afghans and Europeans were being systematically dismantled under Taliban rule. He urged international judicial bodies to continue monitoring Taliban abuses and hold the regime accountable.
Commenting on recent border tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban, Massoud said the clashes exposed deep structural problems rooted in Islamabad’s long-standing miscalculation. “Pakistan thought it could control the Taliban, but the group follows its own extremist ideology and maintains ties with organisations such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which operates against the Pakistani state,” he remarked.
He further criticised Western governments for once believing that the Taliban could reform, saying this illusion was born of diplomatic misjudgement and a desire to move past the war. “Today, the Taliban’s actions have proven beyond doubt that such hopes were misplaced,” Massoud concluded.
The annual “Meetings for the Future” conference brings together policymakers, academics, and civil society leaders to discuss global democratic and security challenges.
