The announcement came hours after the leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF), Ahmad Massoud, said he was willing to hold peace talks, as religious scholars suggest, if Taliban fighters stopped their offensive. Massoud’s siege emerged after the Taliban had declared that they had entered Bazarak, the provincial capital.
“Panjshir, who was the last hiding place of the runaway enemy, is captured,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference in Kabul. “This victory has ended the war and paved the way for a peaceful and prosperous life in an independent Afghanistan,” Mujahid said, saying he was told former Vice President Amrullah Saleh had fled to Tajikistan. The Taliban assured the people of Panjshir, who are ethnically different from the Pashtun-dominated group, that there will be no retaliation. “They are our brothers and would work together for a common purpose and well-being of the country,” Mujahid said.
Some sources suggest that the Taliban could announce a government on September 11, the anniversary of the 2001 suicide attacks on U.S. targets. There are also reports that Turkey, China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar would be invited to attend the government training function.
The spokesman called for recognition of Afghanistan, saying the country has the right to be recognized under a Taliban government. He urged the international community, on behalf of his group, to reopen its embassies in Kabul.
Mujahid also called on military personnel who had served under the previous regime to join the new force. “Afghan forces that have been trained for the past twenty years will be asked to meet with the security departments alongside Taliban members,” he said.
The Taliban media team released several videos of its capture of Panjshir, with militants raising the group’s white flags with religious inscriptions on government buildings, including the governor’s house.
In the latest message on Twitter, Commander Massoud said from an undisclosed location that he was still in the valley. “We are in Panjshir and our resistance will continue,” he said on Twitter.
Sunday was a bad day for the NRF, as several of its senior members died in the fight after unverified claims by both sides that heavy casualties had been caused. The resistance group later confirmed that its official spokesman, former journalist Fahim Dashty, Massoud’s cousin, General Abdul Wudood, and Saleh Muhammed Regastni, one of Massoud’s most trusted men in the fight against the Taliban , had been murdered. Afghan posts on Twitter suggested that many senior NRF commanders and fighters had lost their lives.
Panjshir was the last area the Taliban resisted after last month they captured the country’s 33 provinces in a lightning campaign. One week after the fall of Kabul on August 15, the NRF, made up of U.S.-backed Afghan government personnel and private militias, recaptured Andarab and two other districts adjacent to Baghlan, next to Panjshir. . The Taliban had denounced the attack as a breach of its general amnesty for all members and politicians of the ousted government and had urged resistance leaders to lay down their arms and find a negotiated solution to the security crisis.
Last week, the Taliban had launched a major offensive after talks broke down. The armed group not only regained lost ground, but also captured the last remaining province to complete takeover of the entire country before the formation of an interim government.
During his press conference, Mujahid said that all important decisions have already been made about the future government and that they are now working on technical issues. He also said that an interim government would be announced first, which would allow for changes later.
Mujahid added that the government would be inclusive and that women’s rights would be respected within the framework of sharia or Islamic law. She did not delve into the role of women in government, if any.
Domestic flights through Afghanistan have resumed and Mujahid said the group was waiting for the resumption of international flights.
Accusing the U.S. of damaging Kabul airport before leaving Afghanistan, the spokesman said the governments of Turkey and Qatar were helping to restore the facility’s services.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that an organizer said about 1,000 people, including Americans, have been trapped in northern Afghanistan for days waiting for permission to leave their charter flights, but could not verify independently. account details.