In the mountains of Baganshire Valley, bloody fighting is now taking place between the Taliban and a group of insurgents who refuse to accept the new Islamic regime. The Panjshir Valley is the last stronghold of the ousted government, where the country’s former vice president, among others, has barricaded himself in the fight against the Taliban.
Now the insurgents say they are under “heavy attack” by the Taliban, in the fighting that has continued throughout the weekend. In the capital, Kabul, many Taliban soldiers fired their weapons in a victory salute, after rumors of the insurgents had finally been defeated. The New York Times He says two people were shot, and Taliban leaders condemn the violent celebrations.
rejects rumors
In contrast, rumors of victory are rejected by the resistance group itself, and the National Resistance Front insists that it will not surrender immediately.
Undoubtedly, we are in a difficult situation. The former Afghan vice president, Amrullah Saleh, said the Taliban are invading us BBC.
– We did not move, we resisted. The resistance group will not surrender and we will kneel before the terrorists, says Saleh, who describes rumors of a Taliban victory in Panjshir as “baseless.”
Many other prominent figures in the resistance group also insist that Panjshir remains under rebel control.
The Pakistani media is reporting the news of the arrest of Banshir. This is a lie, says Ahmed Masoud, the rebel leader.
Fear of civil war
according to Watchman The group would have access to a powerful arsenal in the mountains, just over eighty miles north of the capital. The Panjshir Valley is also known historically as a place that is impossible to occupy, and neither the Soviet Union nor the Taliban were able to gain control of the mountains from the rebels of the 1980s and 1990s.
At the same time, the Taliban claims to have captured several tanks and other military equipment in the area, and the network appears to be closing in on the insurgents. It is not possible to determine exactly how the battles developed, as the parties share widely divergent stories about the conflict. Experts believe the rebels aim to hold the Panjshir Valley until October, when the mountains are covered in snow. This will give the group about five months to reorganize and receive outside help.
General Mark Milley, Commander in Chief of the US Army, is taking the situation very seriously. He fears that the fighting at the foot of the mountain could lead to a full-scale civil war.
– My military assessment is that the situation will most likely develop into a civil war. “I don’t know if the Taliban will be able to take full control of the country and form a government,” Milley said. Reuters.
If the Taliban do not emerge from the conflict as dictatorial leaders in Afghanistan, the general believes that this will provide fertile ground for increased terrorist activity in the country.
This, in turn, could lead to a resurgence of al-Qaeda or a re-emergence of ISIS, as well as countless other terrorist groups, Milley warns.
Challenges in line
The stubborn insurgent group is not the only thing the Taliban has to contend with. Afghanistan is facing an economic crisis and the group has not yet formed a government, even if it is one Announcement expected soonE – After the Taliban had previously invited both outsiders and women to participate in the new Afghanistan, The New York Times wrote that the new government would probably consist exclusively of Taliban members.
The Taliban have repeatedly promised a more moderate approach than when they ruled the country from 1996 to 2001, but they are constantly emerging. Reports that testify to the contrary. On Saturday, the group cracked down on a women’s demonstration in Kabul, with several participants claiming that they were beaten and sprayed with pepper spray by soldiers.
A 24-year-old protester told the New York Times that she and about 100 other women were beaten with guns and iron pipes. The woman, who will only come out by her first name for security reasons, said she had to sew five stitches on her head after Taliban soldiers lost her unconscious.
“When I tried to resist and continue the demonstration, one of the soldiers pushed me and hit me with a sharp metal object,” Narges told the newspaper.
Video from the demonstration shows a Taliban member supported by several armed soldiers shouting over a megaphone and telling the women to end the protest. Then one of the women tore the megaphone from his hands.
– They pushed us all away and forced us to leave, while chasing us with pepper spray, weapons, and iron pipes, says Nargis.
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