Afghanistan: the Taliban announced the conquest of the Panshir valley | The last hotbed of resistance to the new regime

The Taliban claim to have captured the Panshir valley, the last hotbed of resistance where the National Resistance Front (FRN) had entrenched itself. “The insurgents were killed and the others fled. The respectable population of Panshir has been saved from being held hostage, ”Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

“With this victory, our country is completely out of the swamp of war. People will now live in freedom, peace and prosperity, ”Mujahid added.

Taliban spokesperson called on “the Afghan forces that have been trained over the past 20 years” to join “To the security services” with the members of the Islamist fighters.

The Panshir valley, a rebel stronghold

The Panshir Valley, 80 kilometers from Kabul, was the last hotbed of resistance to the Taliban, who captured Kabul on August 15. Since then, fighters from the National Resistance Front (FRN) had taken refuge in this valley, What it had already functioned as a stronghold of resistance under the previous Taliban regime -from 1996 to 2001-as well as the Soviet occupation.

The The FRN is made up of local militiamen loyal to Ahmad Masud, son of the famous commander Ahmed Shá Masud who led the resistance in this valley in the 1990s before being assassinated by Al-Qaeda, and the remnants of the Afghan army.

From ceasefire to call for resistance

In the early hours of Monday, the FRN proposed a ceasefire and that “the Taliban cease their military operations in Panshir and withdraw their forces”. “In return, we will ask our forces to refrain from carrying out military actions,” the group said.

This Monday, Massoud said the FNR is still active in Panshir and will continue to fight the Taliban.. The leader sent a message that was shared on the Front’s official Facebook and Twitter pages, Afghan news channel Tolo reported.

Taliban warning

For its part, the spokesperson for the Taliban warned: “The Islamic Emirate is very sensitive to insurgencies. Anyone who tries to start an insurgency will be strongly attacked. We will not allow another ”.

Likewise, Mujahid assured that “The final decisions have been taken” to form a new government and that “now we are working on technical issues”. “We will announce the new government as soon as these technical issues are resolved,” he added.