The Taliban claimed victory over opposition forces within the Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul on Monday, finishing their takeover of the nation after a shock seize of Kabul final month and a chaotic withdrawal of overseas troops.
Images on social media confirmed Taliban members standing in entrance of the gate of the compound of Panjshir’s provincial governor after preventing over the weekend with Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front (NRFA), led by Panjshir chief Ahmed Masood.
“Panjshir province has completely come under the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic terrorist group, stated in a tweet on Monday.
“With this victory and latest efforts our country has come out of the vortex of war and our people will have a happy life in peace, freedom and freedom throughout the country.”
The Taliban assured the individuals of Panjshir, who’re ethnically distinct from the Pashtun-dominated Taliban and fought in opposition to Islamists in the course of the 1996–2001 regime, that there could be no “discriminatory acts” in opposition to them.
“They are our brothers and will work together for a common cause and welfare of the country,” the Mujahid stated.
There was no rapid phrase from Masood, who leads a military composed of the stays of native militia fighters, together with common Afghan military and particular forces items.
Ali Maisam Nazari, head of overseas relations on the NRFA, stated the Taliban’s declare of victory was false and that opposition forces continued to struggle.
“NRF forces are present at all strategic positions in the Valley to continue the fight,” he stated on his Facebook web page.
The Taliban beforehand stated their forces had made it to the provincial capital, Bazarak, and seized a considerable amount of arms and ammunition.
Amid the preventing that broke out within the Valley on Sunday, Masood stated he welcomes proposals for an answer via dialogue by spiritual students. Several makes an attempt at negotiations had been made after the clashes that had occurred practically two weeks earlier, however finally broke down, with both sides blaming the opposite for his or her failure.
The Taliban took management of the remainder of Afghanistan three weeks in the past after taking energy in Kabul on August 15 after the Western-backed authorities collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the nation.
Panjshir was the final pocket of armed resistance in opposition to the Taliban. It has a historical past of being tough for enemies to take. The rugged mountain valley continues to be affected by the wreckage of tanks destroyed in the course of the protracted struggle in opposition to the Soviet Union within the Eighties.
The NRFA stated on Sunday that its chief spokesperson Faheem Dashti had been killed within the preventing.
Dashti had survived the suicide assault that killed Masood’s father, Ahmed Shah Masood, on September 9, 2001, simply days earlier than the September 11 assaults on the United States.
The Battle of Panjshir has been probably the most outstanding instance of resistance to the Taliban.
But smaller, separate protests have additionally taken place in numerous cities for girls’s rights or in protection of the inexperienced, crimson and black flags of the defeated Afghan Republic.
The Taliban imposed violent punishments and barred ladies and older women from going to highschool and dealing, however this time has sought a extra liberal face.
evacuation flights
US-led overseas forces evacuated some 124,000 foreigners and at-risk Afghans within the weeks earlier than the final US troops left Kabul, however hundreds had been left behind fearing retaliation from the Taliban.
Blaming the delay on the US State Department, an organizer instructed Reuters that just about 1,000 individuals, together with Americans, await clearance for his or her constitution flights into northern Afghanistan.
The organizers of the flights stated the State Department had failed to tell the Taliban that it had given its approval for the flight’s departure. International airport within the northern metropolis of Mazar-i-Sharif Or validate a touchdown web site.
“They should be held accountable for endangering the lives of these people,” stated the individual, who sought anonymity because of the sensitivity of the difficulty.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm account particulars.
A US official, talking on situation of anonymity, challenged the concept Americans are in danger, saying the US authorities “has not confirmed that any Americans will be able to leave the airport at Mazar-i-Sharif”. making an attempt.”
The United States didn’t have personnel on the bottom and couldn’t affirm primary particulars of the constitution flights, the spokesman stated.
“We will stick to the Taliban’s pledge to allow the people to leave Afghanistan freely,” the spokesman stated.
Western powers say they’re prepared to interact with the Taliban and ship humanitarian assist to individuals displaced by drought and struggle, however the authorities’s formal recognition and complete financial assist will depend upon motion – not simply guarantees – to guard human rights. for.
The United Nations stated it might convene a world assist convention on 13 September to assist stop a humanitarian catastrophe that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has referred to as for.
.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
