To Valhalla

According to myth and folklore, members of the Afridi tribe are descendants of the lost Jewish tribe of Efraim. Twelve Hebrew tribes were expelled from the area now known as Israel when the Assyrians conquered the Hebrews in the 723 BC. The Afridis fled east to the area between what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan, known as the Tribal Lands. 

They have inhabited the area in and around the Khyber Pass for centuries, dating back as far as at least five centuries before Christ walked the earth. All are now followers of Islam, though Mohammad didn’t arrive upon the planet until the sixth century after Christ. Presumably the Afridis were Hebrews until they were converted to Islam.

All Afridis are fiercely independent. They have demonstrated their willingness to fight any and all who would seek to subdue them. No one had been able to subdue them again, as the Assyrians did centuries before, ever since.

Haji Ajab Afridi is an elder in the Afridi tribe. Before the troubles erupted, he lived, with his large and happy family, in the village of Shalutar, located near the confluence of the Kabul and Indus rivers. He was the oldest member of a family which prided itself on its heritage. He and his wife, Bakhtawara Bibi, had seven children, three sons and four daughters.

Their children married and had children. The entire Afridi family stayed in Shalutar, as it had for generations. Most of the Haji Ajab Afridi family lived together, in a cluster of four houses surrounded by stone walls. The three sons lived in three of the buildings, and Haji and his wife lived in the fourth inside the confines of the eight foot high walls. It was like a fortress within the village. Members of the Afridi family inhabited the area for as long as anyone could remember, and probably since the earliest days the tribe settled in the area. There was peace and tranquility in Shalutar…until the Taliban arrived.

Mullah Mogabbi and his followers came upon Shalutar and found it to be an ideal place to hide from those who sought to capture them, most notably the United States of America. He and his followers found Haji’s little fortress to be an ideal place to house themselves. One evening, while most of the Afridi family slept, Haji and his family were awakened and forced to leave their home at gunpoint. They were able to take with them little more than the clothes on their back. 

Families who lived in the houses surrounding the Afridi compound were also evicted. Their homes were needed to house the hundreds of soldiers who accompanied Mullah Mogabbi. Many more Taliban fighters were in makeshift camps at the outskirts of the village, hidden amongst the trees in the mountains, to protect against any possible attacks upon their leader.

The Afridi family took refuge in the homes of other family members scattered around the village, but by early morning the entire community was in a state of rage. People gathered in the streets, at the market places, at their places of worship, and at every gathering spot in the village and voiced their concerns for their friends, the Afridis, to no avail. The Taliban didn’t ask for, nor did they care about, the approval of Haji and his family, or any of the people who lived in the village.

Mullah Mogabbi is a recluse. He rarely left his home in Kandahar, even though he was the leader of the country, before the Twin Towers were destroyed by Osama bin Laden and his followers in September of 2001. After hiding, defending and protecting bin Laden for months, Mullah Mogabbi was himself on the run, once the United States and its allies entered the country and forced him out of power. 

For several years, Mogabbi moved about in Waziristan, traveling back and forth between Northern Waziristan and Southern Waziristan, seeking to avoid confrontation with the Pakistani military. He avoided detection by anyone, although he continued to be the spiritual and military leader of the Taliban. Even while in hiding, he ruled with absolute power, which was, seemingly, never questioned by anyone within his ranks.

Unfortunately for those who lived in Shalutar, in late August of 2014, once he came upon the quiet, little village, he decided to stay. He was ensconced within the safety of what had been Haji’s fortress, waiting for the Americans to leave Afghanistan. Once they were gone, he would return to his homeland, regain power, and, finally, establish it to be the pure Islamic state he so fervently sought.

Mullah Mogabbi’s men were not afraid to walk about the village and assert their authority, and they did so with impunity and ruthless cruelty. Any and all who voiced objections to what had happened to the Afridis or their neighbors, were beaten. Public gatherings were not permitted. People who spoke out in any manner whatsoever were silenced. 

Within days Mullah Mogabbi saw to it that Sharia Law was implemented in the community. Any who objected were beaten. Anyone who failed to follow Sharia Law was beaten, or worse. Taliban members attended services at every place of worship and saw to it that all Muslims were to practice their faith in a manner as proclaimed by Mullah Mogabbi himself. 

Mullah Mogabbi immediately transformed the village of Shalutar into his own personal refuge. Visitors were diverted. What little commerce there was continued, but trucks were stopped at the outskirts of the town and no one was permitted to enter the village, except when escorted by the Taliban warriors who guarded the city. Supplies were brought into the village by members of the Taliban.