Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front, says his movement does not want foreign military intervention despite waging armed resistance against the Taliban.

In an interview with the French magazine L’Express, he stressed that what the resistance urgently needs is political support.

In the interview, published on 22 November 2025, Massoud said the Taliban now receive almost the same amount of international aid as the former Afghan republic once did. He said the group is not accountable to global institutions and that the funds are being used to support terrorist networks.

Massoud argued that under the previous government, Afghanistan received about 3 billion dollars annually and had to answer to international oversight bodies. He said the Taliban now receive similar sums but spend them without scrutiny while backing militant groups.

Asked whether Afghanistan has changed since the Taliban returned to power, Massoud said conditions today are “far tougher” than during the era of his father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, the anti-Taliban mujahideen commander. He said the Taliban now enjoy greater international support than ever before.

Massoud said the global community has failed to understand the reality inside Afghanistan, adding that Afghans have lost their international allies while the Taliban have gained more support. He said Western countries have shifted their priorities and Afghanistan is no longer at the centre of global attention, but warned that neglecting democracy could lead to another crisis in the next five to ten years.

According to Massoud, the Taliban claim to have trained 25,000 young men in jihadist schools over the past four years, a development he described as a severe and growing threat.

He said his father fought for freedom against tyranny and was the first Afghan political leader to sign a women’s rights charter. Massoud added that the National Resistance Front continues that vision and seeks a democratic, multicultural Afghanistan.

Massoud formed the National Resistance Front after Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021. Under his leadership, the group has carried out armed resistance against Taliban forces for more than four years and continues to build both political and military opposition to the regime.