New Delhi/Kabul: Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that the group has “fully captured” Panjshir province, the last remaining region in Afghanistan.
In a statement, Mujahid, who is also the Taliban’s acting minister of culture and information, said that their efforts for the establishment of nationwide security paid off and the province has been taken by the support of the people, Khaama News reported.
The defiant Panjshir province has been witnessing heavy conflicts between the Taliban and resistance forces for the last seven days during which both sides have been inflicted casualties.
According to the statement, some of the resistance forces have been killed while others fled the province.
“We assure the people of Panjshir not to be subject to discriminatory behavior, they are our brothers and will jointly work for the development of Afghanistan,” Khaama News quoted Mujahid as further saying in the statement.
Earlier, co-leader of the resistance Ahmad Masoud had offered negotiations with the Taliban, which were refused by the latter.
Fahim Dashti, spokesperson of Afghanistan’s resistance front, was killed during the ongoing fighting in Panjshir, according to several reports
Pakistan’s role in Panjshir’s capture
Kabul: The Pakistan Army has been helping the Taliban in its takeover of Afghanistan and its involvement in the insurgent group’s offensive in Panjshir Valley was confirmed by a resistance force commander.
National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan’s leader Ahmad Massoud claimed that Pakistani fighter jets have been dropping bombs in Panjshir and helping the Taliban to crush the resistance.
Massoud released a 19-minute tape and confirmed bombardment by Pakistan and Taliban in Panjshir which killed Fahim and many of Massoud’s family members.
“Taliban proved they haven’t changed. Talibs are not Afghans, they are outsiders and work for outsiders, and want to keep Afghanistan isolated from the rest of the world. All Afghans should join the resistance in any form or way possible. Resistance is still alive,” he said in the video.
ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed met the insurgent group’s de-facto leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul, amidst efforts to finalize a government in the war-torn country.
