Afghanistan: the Taliban on the offensive against the rebel Panshir valley
The Taliban announced that "hundreds" of their fighters were heading for the Panshir valley.
Here, Taliban pictured in Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, on August 13, 2021 (illustrative image).
AP - Gulabuddin Amiri
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The Taliban, again in power in Afghanistan for a week, announced this Sunday, August 22, the launch of a major offensive against the only area that still resists them: the Panshir valley.
In this mountainous region, the resistance continues to organize under the orders of Commander Massoud's son.
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The Taliban announced that "
hundreds
" of their fighters were heading for the Panchir Valley, northeast of Kabul, one of the few areas of Afghanistan still beyond the control of the Islamist movement.
"
Hundreds of mujahedin from the Islamic Emirate [new official name given by the Taliban to Afghanistan] are heading to Panshir state for control, after local officials have refused to hand it over peacefully,
" the Taliban said on their Twitter account in Arabic.
The Taliban
entered Kabul on August 15
without encountering resistance, following a lightning offensive that began in May after the start of the withdrawal of American and NATO forces.
But a pocket of resistance has formed in the Panshir valley, long known as an anti-Taliban stronghold: the National Resistance Front (FNR), led by two emblematic Afghan figures, the former vice-president Amrullah Saleh and the son of the late Commander Massoud, Ahmad Massoud.
The Taliban had announced Friday August 20 "
allegiance
" to their movement of Ahmad Massoud.
But in several texts published in recent days, the son of Commander Massoud urged the resistance of Panshir and asked for international support, including arms and ammunition from the United States.
Amrullah Saleh promised to resist and retired to this valley.
An "
inevitable
"
civil war
if the Taliban refuse dialogue
“
The Taliban will not last if they continue like this. We are ready to defend Afghanistan and we are warning against a bloodbath
, ”Ahmad Massoud told Al-Arabiya channel on Sunday, according to the British daily
The Guardian
. "
We have faced the Soviet Union and we will be able to face the Taliban,
" he said.
Ahmad Massoud, son of Commander Massoud, murdered hero of the resistance against Soviet occupation in Afghanistan in the 1980s, swore on Sunday that he would not return to the Taliban the areas of the country he controls, including the valley of Panshir.
He calls for the formation of an inclusive government to lead the country.
A civil war is "
inevitable
", according to him, if the Islamist movement refuses dialogue.
Ali Maisam Nazary, an FNR spokesperson told AFP that the Front is preparing for "
a long-lasting conflict
" with the Taliban if negotiations fail.
According to the same spokesperson, thousands of Afghans have joined the Panshir valley to fight the new regime.
In 1997, Ahmed Shah Massoud, legendary warlord nicknamed "The lion of Panshir", blew up the Salang tunnel, built during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979-1989), thus closing the door to entrance to the valley from the south.
Despite numerous attempts, the Taliban had never succeeded in seizing Panshir.
(with
AFP
)
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Afghanistan
Taliban
Defense
United States