On 14 November 2001, a small CIA team and U.S. Special Forces secretly inserted Hamid Karzai into southern Afghanistan. Less than a month later, Karzai would become Afghanistan’s interim leader.

In Part 1 of this exclusive interview, Don Parnell, former CIA Chief of Ground Branch, who was by Karzai’s side throughout the mission, tells the inside story of one of the most consequential operations of the war in Afghanistan.

Parnell recounts how the CIA assembled the mission in the aftermath of 9/11, the dangerous helicopter insertion into Uruzgan, working with Pashtun tribal elders, and the race to build a southern uprising against the Taliban. He also describes surviving behind Taliban lines with little food or water, the devastating U.S. friendly-fire strike that nearly killed Hamid Karzai, and witnessing the moment Karzai learned he had been chosen to lead Afghanistan’s new post-Taliban government.

A rare first-hand account from one of the CIA officers at the centre of the campaign that toppled the Taliban.

Coming in Parts 2 and 3: the secret negotiations with the Taliban, the fall of Kandahar, entering Mullah Omar’s residence, the removal of the Taliban flag, Mullah Omar’s escape, and the extraordinary final days of Taliban rule, and its aftermath.

👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends

📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTube

Producer | Host: Roh Yakobi

Assistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat Yakobi

Music ©: Dawood Sarkhosh

Email: hello@rohyakobi.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpod

X: https://x.com/theafgpod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, renowned British photographer Jenny Matthews reflects on nearly four decades of documenting Afghanistan, from the final years of the Soviet occupation to the return of the Taliban.

She recalls arriving in Kabul in 1988, photographing Afghan women during a time of war and uncertainty, and witnessing a society far more complex and vibrant than many outsiders imagined. The conversation explores her encounters with figures such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the contrasts between Kabul and the refugee camps of Peshawar, and the experiences that shaped her career.

Matthews also reflects on her remarkable journey to Bamiyan in 1998, where she found a landscape of breathtaking beauty and extreme hardship. She describes seeing families living in caves on the sides of the Bamiyan Buddhas, children enduring poverty and isolation, and the shock of coming under Taliban bombardment shortly after arriving.

From war widows and women fighters to schoolchildren, midwives and future politicians, Matthews has spent decades documenting the lives of ordinary Afghans navigating extraordinary circumstances. She reflects on the profound changes she witnessed between 1988 and 2011, particularly in the lives and aspirations of Afghan women, and on the resilience that continues to define Afghanistan despite decades of conflict.

A moving and deeply human conversation with one of the photographers who captured some of Afghanistan’s most enduring images.

👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends

📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTube

Producer | Host: Roh Yakobi

Assistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat Yakobi

Music ©: Dawood Sarkhosh

Cover photo ©: Jenny Matthews/Panos

Email: hello@rohyakobi.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpod

X: https://x.com/theafgpod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this third and final part of a remarkable conversation, Milton Bearden reflects on the aftermath of the anti-Soviet jihad, the collapse of Afghanistan into civil war, and the decisions that helped shape the world that followed.

He speaks candidly about Pakistan’s uneasy relationship with the United States, arguing that Washington often treated Islamabad as a temporary necessity rather than a true ally. Bearden also offers blunt assessments of key Mujahideen figures, including Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom he describes as a deeply dangerous man, and reflects on the rivalries and corruption that consumed the movement after victory.

The conversation explores the rise of the Taliban, the misreading of Afghanistan by American policymakers, and the wider failures that followed the Soviet defeat. Bearden recalls how many in Washington came to dismiss Afghanistan as a remote and alien place once the Cold War objective had been achieved, despite the warning signs emerging from the chaos left behind.

He also reveals the extraordinary practical realities behind the covert war. From purchasing mules to arranging comforts for a deserting Soviet pilot, Bearden says he became involved in almost every aspect of the jihad. He challenges some of the mythology surrounding the war itself, discussing the realities of CIA and ISI cooperation, the flow of money and weapons, and the complicated personalities behind the anti-Soviet campaign.

At times reflective and at times brutally direct, Bearden describes how former allies turned on one another, and how the consequences of those years continued to shape Afghanistan long after the world stopped paying attention.

A striking conclusion to a rare firsthand account from the man who oversaw one of the CIA’s most consequential covert wars.

👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends

📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTube

Producer | Host: Roh Yakobi

Assistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat Yakobi

Music ©: Dawood Sarkhosh

Email: hello@rohyakobi.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohyakobi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theafgpod

X: https://x.com/theafgpod

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.