Afghan resistance against Taliban will stop if inclusive govt formed: Ahmad Massoud

Alarabiya News
Tue, 31 Aug 2021 11:07 UTC

© screenshot Reuters

Anti-Taliban resistance troops in Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan

Afghan resistance fighters will avoid conflict if the Taliban agree to a "power-sharing deal," the leader of the Afghan resistance movement in Panjshir, Ahmad Massoud, the son of one of the main leaders of Afghanistan's anti-Soviet resistance in the 1980s. He told Foreign Policy magazine:

"If the Taliban are willing to reach a power-sharing deal where power is equally distributed and is decentralized, then we can move toward a settlement that is acceptable to everyone. Anything less than this will be unacceptable to us, and we will continue our struggle and resistance until we achieve justice, equality, and freedom."

The fighters - who call themselves the National Resistance Front - have been holed up in Panjshir valley, north of Kabul, since the Taliban took over the country on August 15. Panjshir is the last remaining Afghan province not under the control of the extremist group.

On August 22, Massoud had told Al Arabiya that Panjshir valley will not be handed over to the Taliban and resistance fighters will be ready to fight back if the extremist group tries to seize it. "We confronted the Soviet Union, and we will be able to confront the Taliban," he said at the time.

Massoud had also called for the formation of a comprehensive government to rule the country with the participation of the Taliban, warning that war would be "unavoidable" if the extremist group refuses dialogue.

In his interview with the Foreign Policy, Massoud claimed that the resistance movement was receiving no outside support as several US officials called for the recognition of Massoud and former Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh as the formal government of Afghanistan.

Saleh is currently in Panjshir alongside the resistance fighters where he has declared himself the country's rightful president.

Comment: Militia fighters made an offering to the Taliban, but so far fighting claims the day:

Taliban forces clashed with militia fighters in the Panjshir valley north of the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday night.

Since the fall of Kabul on Aug. 15, the Panjshir has been the only province to hold out against the Taliban, although there has also been fighting in neighbouring Baghlan province between Taliban and local militia forces.

Fahim Dashti, a spokesman for the National Resistance Forces, a group loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud, said the fighting occurred on the western entrance to the valley where the Taliban attacked NRF positions.

He said the attack, which may have been a probe to test the valley's defences, was repulsed with eight Taliban killed and a similar number wounded, while two members of the NRF forces were wounded.

A significant force of Taliban fighters has been moved to the area but the two sides have so far been engaged in negotiations and have avoided fighting.

See also: Afghanistan's Massoud says he will not surrender to Taliban UPDATE