The Taliban said this Sunday to have gained ground in the Panchir Valley, the last major hotbed of armed resistance to the new masters of Afghanistan, where the conditions for a civil war could soon be met, according to Washington.

Since August 30 and the departure of the last American troops from the country, the forces of the Islamist movement have launched a series of offensives against this landlocked and difficult to access valley, located 80 km north of Kabul.

A long-standing anti-Italiban stronghold, the area, which legendary Commander Ahmed Shah Massoud helped make famous in the late 1990s before being assassinated by al-Qaeda in 2001, is now home to the National Resistance Front (FNR ).

Led by Ahmad Massoud, the son of Commander Massoud, the FNR includes members of local militias as well as former members of the Afghan security forces who arrived in the valley when the rest of Afghanistan fell.

Large-scale humanitarian crisis

According to the Italian NGO Emergency, present in Panchir, the Taliban forces reached Anabah on Friday evening, a village located about 25 km inside the valley, 115 km long. "Many people have fled from the villages of the area in recent days," added the NGO in a statement, specifying having received "a small number of wounded at the Anabah surgical center".

A Taliban official claimed on Twitter that several parts of the Panchir were now under the control of regime forces.

On the resistance side, Ali Maisam Nazary, FNR spokesperson, assured on Facebook that the resistance "would never fail".

Words that contrast with those, more gloomy, made by former vice-president Amrullah Saleh, who since Panchir has reported a "large-scale humanitarian crisis", with thousands of displaced following "the assault taliban ”.

Risk of civil war

Faced with this chaotic situation, the chief of staff of the American army, General Mark Milley, considered that "the conditions for a civil war" were "likely to be met" in Afghanistan. "I think there is at least a very high probability of a civil war" which could lead "to a reconstitution of Al-Qaeda or to a strengthening of ISIS (the Islamic State group, editor's note) or of other terrorist groups, ”he said in an interview with the American channel Fox News broadcast on Saturday.

On the political level, the face of the new Taliban executive, initially expected to be unveiled on Friday, was still expected Sunday.

Returning to power twenty years after being ousted by a coalition led by the United States, the Taliban are expected at the turn by the international community, which has warned that it would judge the Islamist movement on its actions.

A better humanitarian situation

The movement founded by Mullah Omar has promised since its takeover of Kabul on August 15 the establishment of an "inclusive" government and has pledged to respect the rights of women, flouted during its first spell in power. between 1996 and 2001. Its promises are difficult to convince. On Saturday, for the second day in a row, dozens of women took to the streets in Kabul to demand respect for their rights and their participation in the future government.

On the humanitarian front, even if the situation remains critical in Afghanistan, the sky is starting to brighten up.

Qatar announced that it had sent 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid from around the world to Afghanistan on Saturday and indicated that the flights would continue "in the days to come".

The UN, which this week warned of an "imminent humanitarian catastrophe", will hold a meeting between member states on September 13 to increase humanitarian aid to the country.

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