Afghanistan resistance fighters in Panjsher Valley ‘surrounded’, Taliban claims
- Taliban calls on fighters in holdout bastion to lay down arms
- Resistance movement said it had repulsed heavy attacks
The Taliban has surrounded the only remaining province resisting its rule, a senior leader said, calling on rebels to negotiate a settlement with the group.
Since the fall of Kabul on August 15, mountainous Panjsher has been the only province to hold out against the Islamist group, although there has also been fighting in neighbouring Baghlan province between Taliban and local militia forces.
Under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, son of a former Mujahideen commander, several thousand members of local militias and remnants of army and special forces units have been holding out against the Taliban.
In a recorded speech addressed to Afghans in Panjsher, senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Motaqi called on the rebels to put down their weapons.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is home for all Afghans,” he said.
The Taliban have declared an amnesty for all Afghans who worked with foreign forces during the past two decades but crowds fearing reprisals have continued to flock to the borders in an attempt to flee the landlocked country.
Motaqi said the Taliban had made many efforts to negotiate with leaders of the opposition forces in Panjsher, “but unfortunately, unfortunately, without any result”.
Taliban forces are making preparations around the four sides of the Panjsher valley and there is no reason to fight, Motaqi said, adding that the anti-Taliban forces should keep in mind that it had not been possible to defeat the Taliban even with the support of Nato and US forces.
“But we are still trying to ensure that there is no war and that the issue in Panjsher is resolved calmly and peacefully,” Motaqi said.
Taliban supporters hold mock funeral with coffins draped in US, UK and Nato flags
The remarks came after at least seven Taliban fighters were killed during an attempt to advance into the valley, according to two resistance leaders.
Italian aid group Emergency said four dead and five wounded had been delivered to its trauma hospital in Kabul from the fighting around the Gulbahar area at the entrance to Panjsher.
A spokesman for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, which groups the forces in the Panjsher valley, said on Wednesday Taliban forces had launched an offensive two days ago, and had been attacking in three or four different areas but had so far been pushed back.
The Panjsher has immense symbolic value in Afghanistan as the area that has resisted occupation by invaders.
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“We defended it during the era of the Russians, the era of the British, the previous era of the Taliban … we will continue to defend it,” one fighter said.
The valley has limited entry points and its geography offers a natural military advantage – defending units can use high positions to effectively target attacking forces.
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Taliban fighters show off captured military hardware in the Afghan city of Kandahar
This week, Panjsher fighters held military training in a show of force, with men carrying heavy logs on their shoulders crossing chest-deep icy rivers.
Above their armoured vehicles and over their bases fluttered their flag, a challenge to the Taliban’s white banner now hauled up across the rest of the country.
Many Afghans are terrified of a repeat of the Taliban’s initial rule from 1996 to 2001, which was infamous for their treatment of girls and women, as well as a brutal justice system.
The NRF has set up machine gun nests, mortars and surveillance posts fortified with sandbags in anticipation of a Taliban assault.
Communications are difficult with the valley, with Taliban forces on three sides. Internet into Panjsher has been on and off repeatedly in recent days.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse
