Defiant in betrayal, Afghanistan’s pro-democracy leaders still see a future without the Taliban

Forced to gather in exile, Afghanistan’s resistance movement is working in the shadows on ways to oust the Taliban from its grip on Kabul, knowing it can no longer trust or rely on the Western allies who so hastily pulled out of the country in August 2021.

There is bitterness on display here at the Herat Security Dialogue in Dushanbe, the capital of neighbouring Tajikistan, but this unusual gathering of former ex-warlords, resistance fighters, diplomats and politicians is united by a single cause: a future for Afghanistan without the Taliban.

Perhaps the star guest at the talks is former Mujahideen leader Ismail Khan, dubbed the “Lion of Herat” for his involvement in fighting the Soviet invasion of the 1980s, who supported the government against the Taliban up until he was captured in August 2021.