- With a series of Taliban victories indicating that the Afghan government forces are in chaos, Samisadat is improving his reputation on the battlefield and social media.
- The young general is using Twitter and Facebook as clever public relations tools to fight hardline Islamists.
- He and the 20,000 soldiers of the 215th Regiment under his command have gained thousands of followers, and their Twitter accounts are flooded with pictures of the general.
As the Taliban’s series of victories indicate that the Afghan government forces are in chaos, a young general is improving his reputation on the battlefield and social media.
Provincial cities in the north this week collapsed like dominoes—in some cases, government forces withdrew or descended without a fight—but in Rashkar Gah, the heart of the Taliban, the army appears to be providing stronger resistance.
Leading them is the 36-year-old Sami Sadat, the highest-ranking military officer in southern Afghanistan, who is fighting fiercely to defend the provincial capital that the Taliban desperately want to seize.
With the rebels flooding social media with surrendered Afghan soldiers and selfies with locals, the young general is also using Twitter and Facebook as clever public relations tools to fight hardline Islamists.
#AFG 2/2 Three main points of the Battle of Rashkaga: 1) The Taliban used the Doha talks to prepare for a military attack and used them as a belligerent tool. 2) The Afghan army would defeat the Taliban. 3) The locals hated the Taliban.We must embark on a nationwide career mobilization pic.twitter.com/hLEU3v7rsY
-萨米萨达特 (@SayedSamiSadat) May 26, 2021
He and the 20,000 soldiers of the 215th Army under his command have gained thousands of followers, and their Twitter accounts are flooded with photos of generals in the army, taking photos with young civilians, and meeting local shopkeepers.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Defense said on Twitter that he had been promoted to the head of the country’s special forces, and the news was well received on the platform.
Despite the progress made by the Taliban, Sadat remains optimistic.
“Because I know we will win,” he told AFP in a telephone interview on the front line of Lashkar Gah.
“I know this is our country. The Taliban are failing. Sooner or later they will fail.”
But his colleagues and friends say that for him, it is more than just a bright spot.
“He is not naive at all,” said a security official who asked not to be named.
“He has a very strategic vision and a very in-depth analysis of what is happening,” said Sadat’s colleagues in the spy agency.
Sadat graduated from the famous King’s College in London and started his military career at the Ministry of Interior in Afghanistan.
#AFG According to C&C’s newly released strategic guidance, we have started four war plans. This includes defense, mobilization, modification, and offense.These plans are synchronized to support our war efforts, and are the government’s approach, using all elements for missions and purposes pic.twitter.com/kudSadzkX3
-萨米萨达特 (@SayedSamiSadat) July 22, 2021
He received military training in Germany, Britain, Poland and the United States, and also served in the National Security Agency, the spy agency in Afghanistan.
Sadat prefers to talk about his subordinates rather than himself and his family-senior military officers and their relatives are the special targets of the Taliban strike team-and even refuses to reveal his birthplace.
But he is also keen to talk about war, he confidently-and ruthlessly.
He told AFP:
Any Taliban who comes to Lashkar Gah will die or become disabled for life.
However, he admitted that it will take time to fully protect the city.
On August 4, Sadat appealed to the residents to leave Lashkar Gah so that the army could launch a full counterattack.
But he held back, saying that he was afraid of hurting those who chose to stay.
Sadat described how his troops went door-to-door to protect the Taliban from infiltrating the community of Lashkar Gah.
“We still find civilians-especially the elderly and trapped women-and we take them to safer places,” he said.
#AFG From May 1 to today, the Taliban used their skills, manpower and radical means to seize Rashkaga. The result is 653 Tb KIA, which is more than 200 WIA. The ANDSF not only killed 14 of their so-called red forces, but also 31 combat commanders including the Deputy Shadow Governor also died 1/2 pic.twitter.com/YDntLwPEG3
-萨米萨达特 (@SayedSamiSadat) May 26, 2021
NGOs and the United Nations have repeatedly expressed concern about the violence and risks faced by civilians-including the threat of aerial bombardment by the Afghan army on suspected Taliban positions in Lashkar Gah.
Although Sadat has gained morale in other parts of Afghanistan, the loyalty and respect that Sadat appears to show in his troops is a key factor in resisting the Taliban in the city.
An Afghan security source said: “He is not a man hiding in a Humvee and giving orders from behind.”
“He will do anything for his soldiers.”
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