PESHAWAR: The National Resistance Front (NRF) chief Ahmad Massoud in audio message called on Afghans for “national uprising” against the Taliban across Afghanistan. Massoud claimed that the resistance forces were still in Panjshir and fighting the Taliban.
He said NRF fighters had stopped war at the request of local Panjshir clerics, but accused the Taliban of violating commitment and continued attacks against NRF. According to Massoud, some members of his family were also killed in the war with the Taliban on Sunday [5 September]. Former spokesman for the group Fahim Dashti was killed in a clash with the Taliban in Panjshir on Sunday.
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However, he denied the Taliban’s claim of complete control of Panjshir, claiming that resistance forces were still active in the strategic part of province. The Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Monday morning claimed “complete control” of Panjshir from the National Resistance Front.
In his message, Ahmed Massoud criticised the international community. “They provide opportunities for the Taliban to become a military and political power but the Taliban have not changed and are more extremist than ever,” he alleged. “History will decide for itself which countries are the true friends of Afghans. Those who are with the Taliban and their allies at the moment should know that they are destroying the present and future of the people of Afghanistan,” Massoud maintained. He did not named any country, but asked them to amend and stand with the people of Afghanistan.
Massoud concluded by saying that the National Resistance Front would soon announce its new spokesperson and the struggle would continue. Fahim Dashti, a former spokesman for the group, was killed Sunday in a clash with the Taliban in Panjshir.