The Taliban on Monday claimed victory in the Panjshir Valley, the last part of Afghanistan holding out against their rule, and declared that they would form a new government soon.
“We tried our best to solve the problem through negotiations, and they rejected talks and then we had to send our forces to fight,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said during a press conference in Kabul. “Panjshir, which was the last hideout of the escapee enemy, is captured. With this victory, our country is completely taken out of the quagmire of war,” he added.
Mujahid also assured the safety of the residents of Panjshir as dozens of families reportedly escaped into the mountains ahead of the Taliban’s arrival. “There is no need for any more fighting,” Mujahid said. “All Panjshir people and those who live in Panjshir are our brothers, and they are part of our country,” he affirmed.
Pictures posted on social media showed the insurgents standing at the Panjshir provincial governor’s compound entrance, where they raised the flag of Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan after days of fighting with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA). The NRFA is made up of the remnants of anti-Taliban militia and former Afghan security forces.
On Sunday, the Taliban acknowledged suffering major losses and called for a ceasefire. However, on Monday, NRFA commander and Panjshiri leader Ahmad Massoud said the group had not conceded defeat and vowed to keep up the resistance. He also informed that the outfit’s fighters were still present in “strategic positions” across the valley. “We are in Panjshir, and our Resistance will continue,” Massoud said on Twitter, adding that he was safe, without giving any details of his whereabouts.
In a 19-minute audio message released by Massoud after the Taliban’s alleged victory, he declared a national uprising and asked Afghans to fight the group by whatever means they could. He also urged the international community to aid the Afghan resistance forces against the Taliban. Moreover, the leader alleged that the Pakistani government helped the Taliban in crushing the resistance as Pakistani fighter jets dropped bombs in Panjshir.
Earlier, the Taliban asserted that it would not allow any country, including Pakistan, to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs. It also noted that the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) chief, Lt General Faiz Hameed, had met the group’s de-facto leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul amid efforts to finalise a government.
The steep Panjshir valley, located to the north of Kabul, was long known for holding out against attacks, including against Soviet troops in the 1980s and the Taliban during their previous rule in the 1990s. It was the main redoubt of the Northern Alliance resistance fighters who unseated the Taliban with the United States’ support in 2001 after the September 11 attacks.