Claiming Successful Control Of Panjshir Region, Taliban Promises No Discriminatory Actions

The Taliban group poses for a photo at the gates of the governor's office complex of Panjshir Province. (Twitter/@Ahmadmuttaqi01)

JAKARTA - The Taliban claimed victory over opposition forces in the Panjshir valley northeast of Kabul, completing their takeover of Afghanistan Monday.

Pictures on social media showed Taliban members standing in front of the gates of the governor's office complex of Panjshir Province, after fighting over the weekend with the Afghan National Resistance Front (NRFA), led by Panjshiri leader Ahmad Massoud.

"Panjshir province completely falls to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", Taliban group spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a Twitter post on Monday, adding that some enemy fighters had died in the fighting and others had fled, cited from Reuters, , Monday, September 6.

"With this victory and the latest efforts, our country has come out of the vortex of war and our people will have a happy life in peace, liberty, and freedom across the country". continued Mujahid.

In addition to taking pictures, members of the Taliban also raised the Taliban flag on the flagpole in the governorate of Panjshir Province.

The Taliban assured the Panjshirs, who are ethnically distinct from the Pashtun-dominated Taliban and fought against the Taliban group during their 1996-2001 rule, that there would be no 'discriminatory action against them'.

"They are our brothers and will work together for the common goal and welfare of the country", said Mujahid.

There was no immediate word from Massoud, who leads a force made up of remnants of the Afghan regular army and special forces units and local militia fighters.

Meanwhile, Ali Maisam Nazary, head of foreign relations at NRFA, said the Taliban's claim of victory was false and opposition forces were continuing to fight.

"NRF troops are present in all strategic positions throughout the valley to continue the fight", Nazary wrote on his Facebook page.

The Taliban earlier said their forces had made it into the provincial capital, Bazarak, and had seized large quantities of weapons and ammunition.

As fighting raged in the valley on Sunday, Ahmad Massoud said he welcomed proposals from religious scholars for a negotiated settlement. Several attempts at talks were held after clashes erupted about two weeks ago but ultimately failed, with each side blaming the other for their failure.

To note, Panjshir is a rugged mountain valley still littered with the wreckage of Soviet Union tanks destroyed during the long war in the 1980s to overthrow the Soviet presence, proving to be very difficult to conquer since the past.

Under Ahmad Shah Massoud, the region had long resisted control by invading Soviet troops, as well as against the Taliban government that previously ruled from 1996 to 2001. But that effort was aided by supply routes leading north to the border, which were sealed by a landslide victory of Taliban last month.

د پنجشیر ولایت مقام کي د اسلامي امارت علم مبارک ورپول شو. pic.twitter.com/4OoiXKEnTH

— Ahmadullah Muttaqi (@Ahmadmuttaqi01) September 6, 2021