No Talks With The Taliban, Son Of Former Mujahideen Commander Massoud Promises Guerrilla War

Ahmad Massoud. (Wikimedia Commons/Hamid Mohammadi)

Afghanistan's anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Massoud vowed to escalate a guerrilla war against the Taliban to bring the hardline group to the negotiating table, saying there are currently no talks to negotiate a peaceful settlement.

Speaking in an interview in Paris, Massoud, the leader of the exiled Afghan National Resistance Front (NRF), said the only way for the Taliban to gain legitimacy was to hold elections. However, that is unlikely to happen at this time.

"The Taliban rejects any negotiation talks. They just want the world and the Afghan people to accept, this is the only way to go forward, when it really doesn't," said Massoud, son of former anti-Soviet mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

The NRF grouped opposition forces loyal to Massoud. They oppose the takeover of the Taliban and clashes have occurred since August 2021 between the two sides in the Panjshir region, north of the capital Kabul.

Massoud, operating from abroad, said the NRF was forced to change tactics because it could not fight the Taliban, which has conventional full weapons.

"Last year we chose a more pragmatic approach and it was a guerrilla war. That's why you see less than us but the impact is greater," he said, adding that the number of fighters had increased from 1,200 to 4,000 people.

He further said his fighters did not receive any military aid, but relied on supplies from decades of war in the country and needed ammunition.

"This is quite dizzy for the Taliban, but not to bring them down or make them suffer too much, so they come to carry out appropriate and meaningful negotiations. So, this is something the world must understand," he explained.

Massoud himself declined suggestions to return to Afghanistan as part of a reintegration scheme for former Taliban officials.

"People who leave Afghanistan, they leave not just a house or a car. They leave for noble purposes. They leave for a few principles," he said.

"If the Taliban announce they accept elections, today we can all come back, because that's what we want," he said.

It is known that the last election in Afghanistan was held under US-backed government, then ousted by the Taliban in August 2021 when Western forces withdrew. The Taliban dissolved the country's election commission in December 2021.

On the other hand, many Western countries do not formally recognize the Taliban government, mainly because of its treatment of women in the country. However, there is little pressure or desire to once again engage in a country whose main focus is war in Ukraine.

"We are trying to tell the West that you may be busy with Ukraine, but at the same time, you need to pay attention to the situation in Afghanistan, because the situation in Afghanistan is a time bomb," concluded Massoud.