By Dimitri Beck
Director of photography at Polka magazine in France who used to live and work in Kabul between September 2004 and December 2006.
“Faheem Dashty. This name probably does not speak to those who have never been to Afghanistan. So I’m telling you about it.
Faheem was killed last Sunday, September 5, 2021, in a Taliban attack in Panjshir province, almost 10 years to the day after that of Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was by his side, in the same room, when the bomb exploded and assassinated Massoud on September 9, 2001. Faheem was then a press officer in the resistance to the Taliban. From this tragedy, Faheem had retained burns that he modestly hid but above all an irreparable inner wound: the loss of a friend and an irreplaceable leader.
As it was said at the time, September 11 began on September 9 that year, 2001.
This is why we published with Polka her account of this tragedy, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 commemorations.
Faheem Dashty was one of the best Afghan journalists. Editor-in-chief of Kabul Weekly for years, he was known to be free-spirited. A courageous and reckless man, faithful in friendship and in combat. When Kabul was captured by the Taliban in mid-August, he left to participate in the resistance in his native province, Panjshir. This green and sumptuous valley, whose Persian name means “Five Lions” in French, has always stood up to the Soviets and then to the Taliban. But this time, for how much longer…
I remember our many conversations together in the office of his newspaper, tea sharing in the patio and garden of the Aina Media Center, created by Reza, where his newspaper was housed. Faheem was often taciturn, dark and discreet. He smoked a lot, kept meeting in his office, and making phone calls like cigarettes. The news was often harsh as the taste and smoke of his cigarettes. But sometimes, in the midst of the puffs of smoke, a furtive flash of smile appeared in his eyes and face. Rare and precious. Eternal.
Rest in peace Faheem jan.
All my thoughts to Faheem’s family, to all alumni and friends of Kabul Weekly and Aina.”
