Fazul joins camp to begin Jihad

I had heard about Vietnam and watched American movies that depicted the Americans as invincible.

I always wondered, and told myself that the movies had their own objective — to boost the morale of the American people while demoralising others. In truth, America suffered an abysmal defeat in Vietnam, and it betrayed those Vietnamese who fought on their side.

What did America do for those people? They left them to meet their fate at the hands of the new communist government of Vietnam. It prepared no programme for them. The CIA is known for betrayal when things get tough.

America is only concerned about its own interests. It is the party that always chooses the target and schemes to overthrow governments that refuse to take orders from it.

Don’t forget what happened to the Iraqi Kurds, whom the CIA betrayed. Look closely at what it did to the Shiites in the Second Gulf War. America itself supported President Saddam Hussein, but it later betrayed him. It even betrayed former Somali President Siad Barre. As such, America always betrays its allies.

It thought that it could betray the Mujahidin engaged in the Afghan Jihad or toy with them as it wished. But it failed this time round because the Afghan Jihad has now produced the Ummah’s best young men, such as Mulla Muhammad Umar, Osama bin Laden and Sheikh Abdalmuizz al-Zawahiri and other Islamic leaders across the world.

Miramshah is a border village located in Sarhad Province, on the western border of Pakistan. It is inhabited by the Patan, an interrelated group of Afghan and Pakistani tribes. It is small in size, but big in the hearts of all Mujahidin.

It was the main crossing point into Afghanistan for the Mujahidin, and it was considered a place to rest and treat injured Mujahidin before they are moved to Peshawar.

Arab faces were not alien to Miramshah. Arab young men were in charge of charitable organisations serving natives. We arrived in this village at noon after a long, enjoyable and safe journey.

We went to Miramshah guest house and found that there were more Mujahidin there. We were given a reception befitting a Mujahidin and given instructions concerning the guest house.

The director was a Saudi brother and his deputy was brother Abu-Suhayb al-Makki, a young man from Mecca. Some of his aides were northern Yemenis.

Except in piety

There was no discrimination between arriving nationalities and Arab and non-Arab, except in piety.

We spent the night in the village and on the following day vehicles, totally different from the buses we used in Pakistan arrived at the guest house. They were hardy vehicles that could endure the mountainous terrain and unpaved roads. They were all-terrain four-wheel drive vehicles that had no tops.

We got into the vehicles in two groups and began our historic voyage. Each of us left his trusts and his will at the guest house. We were told that we could be martyred at any time. The Afghan-Pakistani border was not far, we were told.

Finally, we arrived at the Pakistani-Afghan border, where Pakistani militia and police forces were deployed. No procedures and no papers were required — we had left all our papers at the guest house.

A Pakistani soldier came down and talked to our driver in Afghan. He looked at all of us and smiled. We could do nothing but remain silent.

It was foregone that there was cooperation with the Mujahidin from all parties. Our hearts were tranquil as we prayed to Allah.

We all knew that this was a matter of politics and politics was a dirty game full of hypocrisy. But with Allah’s grace, we finally crossed the border.

These borders were charted by the cunning colonists who planted respect for western-drawn borders and disrespect for religion in the hearts of Muslims. We believe that Islam has no boundaries and that we must eliminate these borders that were drawn by the west, which have divided Muslims into factions fighting over borders.

Because of its cunning nature, the secularist Pakistani Government exploited the instability in Afghanistan and moved slowly into the country. The borders were found to be altered from time to time and Pakistani intelligence worked day and night to steal and conceal maps drawn up by the colonists.

However, many Patans knew that the Kingdom of Afghanistan started at Rawalpindi. Afghanistan was a strong country at the time of British colonisation, and the British were dealt an abysmal defeat when they proceeded to fabricate the borders and the entire Sarhad region remained in Pakistan whereas it is, in fact, an Afghan region.

The Pakistani intelligence agency thought that Afghans did not understand as much. I think they were mistaken because Afghans are aware of the truth of the matter.

We felt comfortable, and we also sensed the difference between the two countries: one was fighting to expel the colonists and invader while the other was plotting to destroy the Jihad after the Mujahidin triumph. We entered into the land of the Afghans who were, and still are, a source of pride for Muslims.

Jawara area was under the total control of the Mujahidin. Engineer Hekmatyar’s Hize-e-Islami, a Mujahidin in the area, was a respected man who studied architecture and then abandoned his studies for the Jihad, declaring war on the Russians and the local government.

He was one of the youngest, but most powerful leaders and his party’s Mujahidin were spread throughout Afghanistan, even in regions where Patans had no presence, such as northern Afghanistan.

We felt happy whenever we went through an Afghan checkpoint. Carrying light weapons, the security officers greeted us. One could also see anti-aircraft guns at peak tops and tanks in some Afghan camps.

You could sense the strength of the Mujahidin as you moved towards the camp. All these points were considered rear lines for the Mujahidin. We arrived at the al-Qaeda-controlled al-Faruq camp at the right time.

Foods prohibited

Bullets were fired in the air to welcome us to the camp in Jihadwal area. When we alighted, we were told: “Put your belongings in one place. You can take out important trusts and deposit them with the administration. All types of foods, even sweets, are prohibited here. Again, welcome to al-Faruq camp. Carry your bags and proceed to the Mosque. Stay there and don’t move around until we assign you to tents.”

One could do nothing here but listen and obey, if one really came to join the Jihad for the cause of Allah and to please Allah. Everything was new to us. We had just started Islamic military life. All the nationalities around us had all come from their countries to help their brethren.

I wished that all my brothers and my friends were with me in that hard, but enjoyable, period — the period of military training and preparation for the cause of Allah — may He be praised and exalted.

There was, of course, a big Comoran group, and they kept us all together. Some Filipino brothers, a group of Libyan Arabs and some Yemenis joined us.

Thus, the camp itself taught you practically how to deal with Muslim brethren from other nationalities without discrimination and without racism.