The Taliban announced that hundreds of its fighters were heading to Banshir province to take control of it, after local provincial officials refused to hand it over peacefully, while Washington played down the threat of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the movement opened channels of communication with Ahmed Masoud, son of Ahmed Shah Masoud, to hand over the state of Benishir peacefully, and that negotiations are still continuing.

Hundreds of Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate are heading towards the state of Panjshir to control it, after local state officials refused to hand it over peacefully.

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Ahmed Masoud, the commander of the last remaining district outside the control of the Afghan Taliban, said on Sunday he hoped to hold peace talks with the group that seized Kabul last week, but stressed that his forces were ready to fight.

"We want the Taliban to realize that the only way forward is negotiations (...) We don't want a war to break out," Massoud told Reuters - by phone from his stronghold in the mountainous Panshir Valley (northwest of Kabul), where he gathered the remnants of regular army units, special forces and local militia. ".

Massoud emphasized that his supporters were ready to fight if the Taliban tried to invade their province.

"They want to defend, they want to fight, they want to resist any totalitarian regime," he added.

However, he said he did not organize the seizure of 3 districts in the northern Baghlan province bordering Panjshir last week, explaining that it was groups of local militia that did so in response to the "atrocities" in the area.

Massoud called for the formation of an inclusive, broad-based government in Kabul that would represent all of Afghanistan's different ethnic groups, saying that a "totalitarian regime" should not be recognized by the international community.

He added that his forces - which one of his aides said numbered more than 6,000 - would need international support if it came to fighting, and explained that they did not come from Panjshir only.

"There are many people from many other provinces who seek refuge in the Panjshir Valley. They stand with us and do not want to accept another identity of Afghanistan," Massoud said.

Al-Qaeda is not a threat

On the other hand, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that US intelligence does not believe that al-Qaeda in Afghanistan currently poses a threat on US soil.

He added, "Our intelligence currently does not believe that al-Qaeda in Afghanistan poses a threat to the American homeland, this is what the president was referring to, as he said on multiple occasions that the organization could pose a threat to the United States in the future.

He continued, "This is why he put in place intelligence and military capabilities to make sure that does not happen, and the president stressed that we were able to deal and curb threats in other countries that have offensive capabilities against us without having a permanent military presence on the ground, and we intend to do the same in Afghanistan."