Taliban says it has surrounded Afghan resistance Panjshir valley, calls for peace

Panjshir has been the only province to resist the Taliban since it took over Kabul on August 15.

The Taliban has surrounded Panjshir, the only remaining province resisting its rule, a senior leader said Wednesday, as he called on the rebels to negotiate a peaceful settlement with them, reported Reuters.

Panjshir has been the only province to resist the Taliban since it took over Kabul on August 15, although there has also been fighting in neighbouring Baghlan province between Taliban and local militia forces.

An AFP report states, meanwhile, with Kabul airport remaining inoperable, the Afghans fearful of Taliban reprisals are trying to escape through the country's land borders. The report quotes a source as saying that a Qatari aircraft carrying a technical team has landed in Kabul to discuss resumption of airport operations.

Several thousand members of local militias and remnants of army and special forces units have been holding out against the Taliban under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, son of a former Mujahideen commander.

A Reuters report stated that in a recorded speech addressed to Afghans in Panjshir, 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 main anti-Taliban opposition group on Tuesday said that the Taliban forces had lost eight in a clash with militia fighters in the Panjshir valley north of Afghan capital Kabul on Monday night.

Led by self-styled resistance leader, Amrullah Saleh, the resistance group in Panjshir province too is fiercely fighting back forcing the Sunni Pashtun Taliban group to pull back. The counter-attack is a result of violation of ceasefire by the Taliban in Panjshir.

For the unversed, Saleh declared himself as the legitimate caretaker president of the country after former president Ashraf Ghani fled the country on August 15.

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