The Taliban’s mujahid said he was told Masood and Amrullah Saleh had fled to Tajikistan.
The Taliban claimed victory over opposition forces in the Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul on Monday, announcing that it had completed its takeover of the Islamic group of Afghanistan and promised to announce a new government soon.
Photos on social media showed Taliban members standing in front of the gate of Panjshir’s provincial governor’s compound after fighting over the weekend with Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front (NRFA), led by Panjshir leader Ahmed Masood.
“Panjshir, the last hideout of the absconding enemy, has been captured,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference.
Earlier, he had said: “With this victory and latest efforts our country has come out of the vortex of war and our people will be able to live a happy life in peace, freedom and independence.”
The Taliban assured the people of Panjshir, who are ethnically distinct from the Pashtun-dominated Taliban and fought against Islamists during their rule from 1996 to 2001, that there would be no “discriminatory acts” against them.
“They are our brothers and will work together for a common cause and welfare of the country,” the Mujahid said.
Masood, who leads an army drawn from the remains of regular Afghan army and special forces units as well as local militia fighters, said in a Twitter message that he was safe, but did not provide any details.
Mujahid said they were told that Masood and former Vice President Amrullah Saleh had fled to neighboring Tajikistan.
Ali Maisam Nazari, head of foreign relations at the NRFA, said the Taliban’s claim of victory was false and that opposition forces continued to fight.
“NRF forces are present at all strategic positions in the Valley to continue the fight,” he said on his Facebook page.
Taliban spokesman Mujahid denied there was any disagreement in the movement over the formation of a new government and said it would be announced soon, but did not set a date.
He also said that women are back to work in the areas of health and education and that “other sectors will be provided one by one, once the system is established for them”.
last pocket of resistance
The Taliban, which came to power last month as the United States withdrew its troops after a 20-year war, banned girls and women from schools and ruled the country for the last time. He worked from 1996 to 2001.
The group has now said that women will be allowed to work in important areas of society in accordance with Islamic law and their rights will be protected.
The Taliban took control of much of Afghanistan three weeks ago, after taking power in Kabul on August 15 after a Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Panjshir, the last pocket of armed resistance against the Taliban, has a history of being difficult for enemies.
The rugged mountain valley is still littered with the wreckage of tanks destroyed during the long war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
The Battle of Panjshir has been the most prominent example of resistance to the Taliban. But in some cities there have been small, isolated protests for women’s rights or in defense of the green, red and black flags of the defeated Afghan Republic.
US-led foreign forces evacuated some 124,000 foreigners and at-risk Afghans in the weeks before the last US troops left Kabul, but thousands were left behind fearing retaliation from the Taliban.
Blaming the delay on the US State Department, an organizer told Reuters that nearly 1,000 people, including Americans, are awaiting clearance for their charter flights into northern Afghanistan.
Reuters could not independently verify account details.
Western powers say they are ready to join forces with the Taliban and send humanitarian aid to people displaced by drought and war, but the government’s formal recognition and comprehensive economic assistance to protect human rights is based not just on promises but on action. will depend.
The United Nations said it would convene an international aid conference on 13 September to help UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres avert a humanitarian disaster.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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