Afghanistan resistance fighters in Panjsher Valley ‘surrounded’, Taliban claims
- Taliban calls on fighters in holdout bastion to lay down arms
- Resistance movement said it had repulsed heavy attacks
The Taliban has surrounded the only remaining province resisting its rule, a senior leader said, calling on rebels to negotiate a settlement with the group.
Since the fall of Kabul on August 15, mountainous Panjsher has been the only province to hold out against the Islamist group, although there has also been fighting in neighbouring Baghlan province between Taliban and local militia forces.
Under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, son of a former Mujahideen commander, several thousand members of local militias and remnants of army and special forces units have been holding out against the Taliban.
In a recorded speech addressed to Afghans in Panjsher, senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Motaqi called on the rebels to put down their weapons.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is home for all Afghans,” he said.
The Taliban have declared an amnesty for all Afghans who worked with foreign forces during the past two decades but crowds fearing reprisals have continued to flock to the borders in an attempt to flee the landlocked country.