The Unknown Messiah

The Taliban government imposed strict laws in the country and enforced all their laws with intimidation so when the problem with the Americans began and the Americans came to fight them, so many people welcomed the Americans and one of the local volunteers was my father. My father was a scholar but the Taliban government tried to shut him down because he wasn't radical, he was moderate and he wanted everyone to uphold the dignity of Islam.

He was the middleman between the locals and the Americans, an interpreter and the Americans trusted him because they knew of him before the war.

The Taliban government wasn't happy with someone like my father and he understood the risk but helping the Americans was his own way of figthing the regime.

I was a young boy but i understood the dangers posed by the Taliban regime and I prayed for the Americans everyday because I wanted the regime to fall as much as my father wanted.

It didn't take time for the Americans to chase the Taliban fighters up to the mountains and my father played a crucial role without firing a single bullet the day our village fell.

The Americans were fighting two enemies, the Taliban fighters and the al-Qaeda though both shared the same similarity but the al-Qaeda were made up of machineries with different ideologies.

My father was the Americans eyes, they loved him and that love brought him very close to the al-Qaeda and he was sure of victory because the regime fell right under his watch and advice.

He told the Americans that his mission is to let people know about the evil of the regime because Islam is not violence as the Taliban, al-Qaeda and their likes portray.

The Americans were friendly and I knew that they were helping us because though there was always heavy gun battle and sounds of bombs but it would interest you to know that everyone felt at peace, I have heard a lot about war but in reality this war in our country was different because every citizen even those sympathising with the Taliban felt relieved.

With the Taliban regime, it was always flogging people or chopping off hands and legs because of one thing or the other.

Women were not free and anyone caught without hijab would be publicly flogged. People were not allowed to watch television in public places.

There was fear all over the country but the presence of the Americans sent the fears away to the hills with the Taliban fighters.

Sometimes the Taliban will sneak in at night as civilians to create panic but the Americans always checkmate them well.

It's true that they cannot be everywhere and these people knew the country more than them and it's war so most times, they penetrate.

I started learning English by listening to the Americans and I understood the word 'Don't move' because they always shouted it at a suspect.

My father was an official volunteer and I was an unofficial volunteer but they didn't mind seeing me walking side by side with them until the night that changed my life.

The Americans already won the war though sometimes the Taliban and al-Qaeda planned attacks but they already lost because Mullah Omar, Osama bin laden, Mullah Abdul and the rest of their leaders were all either captured or went into hiding and the Americans were out searching for the ones hiding especially Osama bin laden. One and half years into the war saw me grew into a man but I was only fifteen but the attack on our village changed me as a person.

Their tactics was to attack civilian targets unaware but why would we be attacked unaware when we know that it is their style.

The Americans foiled so many of such attacks because they had lots of informants and their intelligence was highly effective.

Our village was turned into a dead zone over night, bombs rocked and ravaged both the villagers and the Americans.

It was a well coordinated attack by a stubborn and dangerous Taliban fighters and every family felt their wrath and my family too.

The attack started sometime around mid night and lasted till dawn because the Americans underestimated the Talibans and al-Qaeda intelligence.

We were surrounded by enemies and at the break of dawn, their suicide bombers began detonating on safe places.

The attackers disappeared before the American backup arrived and they disappeared with captured villagers among whom was my father.

Their style has been intimidation and it was one of the weapons they used against civilians during the war. They used their captors against others but what they failed to understand was that we all knew that it would always be this way or that way so when they executed my father, they executed his body and not his ideas, not even his mesaage was destroyed because many people that took his mesaage to heart decided to redress the injustice done to him.

Islam is not a violent religion, all my life apart from my father's teaching, I was also taught about tolerance and forgiveness.

Prophet Muhammed peace be unto him never executed a fellow muslim, he never gave others for Jews to be killed and never preached falsehood.

My father was among the several martyrs killed by the Taliban but while they tried to intimidate us, they only gave room for us to be strong.

The Americans retaliated for my father's death and that of all the executed prisoners by chasing down Mullah Barader the Taliban second in command.

Capturing him weakened the Taliban and the American president vowed to send smoke to their holes.

The war saw two American presidents, it was started by George Bush then handed over to Barrack Obama and Obama became a new face of the war.

Everyday, I remember what my father used to tell me; until they crumble, we will never relent so when the army called for recruits, one thing came to my mind.

I joined the army at twenty one not because I wanted to avenge my father's death but because he encouraged me to do so before he was martyred and for all I know, we will never relent until the last Taliban fighter is booked that was why I took my training very serious. The Americans gave us all that we needed to win the war because it was our war and not theirs.

I didn't understand the true reason behind bringing the war to the door steps of the al-Qaeda by the Americans until I enlisted.

They attacked the Americans in their own soil and had innocent citizens of different backgrounds and religion killed so the result was making me a soldier.

I loved the Americans and detested the Taliban, everything about them sucks because they do not portray true Islam.

The war in my country Afghanistan, code named Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan and Operation Freedom's Sentinel started on the 7th of October 2001.

The Americans helped my country and liberated us from the hands of the evil. One thing that motivated me as a cadet was Osama bin - laden.

I wanted to be the one that will capture him, i wanted him to taste the pressure of the bullets from my gun, I wanted him more than the Americans wanted him.

So I gave my best shot during training and my heart skipped beat at each jump because I knew that he will be captured and I will live to see it.

One of the greatest things that happened to me was joining the army and being trained by the Americans was a big bonus, I started following them as a small boy and I learned the smell of AK47, the sound of an Uzzi and I could tell when an enemy combat fired a shot. I joined the army to fight so I was deployed immediately I graduated from the academy and my first test was the battle of Kamdesh where we fought along side the Americans to flush out the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

We out numbered and overpowered them though they proved to be stubborn but I fired and fired and fired with my comrades until their last man fell.

Being a Soldier exposed me to the Taliban just like my late father but the difference between us is that he never fired a gun but got them scared but I am a soldier.

I had never celebrated my birthday so I was looking upto celebrating it come May 2nd because I actually came across near death in so many instances.

What kept me going was my desire to make sure that the main architect of the attack in USA which led to their invasion of our country was caught.

And the Americans handed me over the greatest birthday gift of my lifetime and I give it all to Barack Obama.

Osama bin Laden was killed by the Americans across the border on the 2nd of May 2011 and that fulfilled my mission as a Soldier.

The war is still on and I command my battalion. Nobody knows about my father but truly he was a messiah.

(Dedicated to all freedom fighters all over the world.)