By Leshi Adebayo
The Taliban Government, on Monday, claimed total control of Afghanistan, saying they had won the major battle for the Panjshir Valley, which is the last holdout of resistance against their rule.
Following their quick victory in mid-August over the former Afghan government’s security forces coupled with the withdrawal of US troops after 20 years of war, the Taliban turned to resist the forces defending Panjshir Valley.
As the Islamist hardliners seized power, their chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid said via a press conference in Kabul, “With this victory, our country is completely taken out of the quagmire of war. Anyone who tries to start an insurgency will be hit hard. We will not allow another.”
The Taliban then published a video of their raised flag over the Governor’s house in Panjshir — emphasizing a historic win that has seen the anti-Taliban stronghold defeated for the first time during 40 years of conflict. Panjshir Valley remained in the hands of resistance fighters during Soviet rule, followed by a civil war, and the Taliban’s first regime of the late 1990s.
The National Resistance Front (NRF) in Panjshir, an anti-Taliban militia and former Afghan security forces on Sunday confirmed that they suffered major battlefield losses which led to a ceasefire.
However, on Monday, NRF said via a tweet that its fighters were still present in “strategic positions” in the valley. As Taliban fighters gathered in the valley, Massoud called on Afghans within and outside the country to “rise up in resistance”.
The NRF group includes local fighters loyal to Ahmad Massoud, the son of the famous anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud with remnants of the Afghan military that retreated to the Panjshir Valley.
Source: Channels TV
