Afghanistan: Militias come under heavy Taliban attacks in Panjshir Valley | Afghanistan

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Militia forces say they are under “violent attacks” as the Taliban fight in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, the last stronghold against hardline Islamist control.

The Taliban face the massive challenge of shifting gears from an insurgent group to ruling power, days after the United States completely pulled out its forces and ended two decades of war.

But they are still struggling to extinguish the last flame of resistance in the Panjshir Valley, which withstood a decade against the occupation of the Soviet Union and also against the first Taliban rule from 1996-2001.

Festive gunfire rang out across Kabul late on Friday as rumors spread that the valley had fallen, but the Taliban made no official claim.

The National Resistance Front fighters – made up of anti-Taliban militias and former Afghan security forces – are understood to have a large stockpile of weapons in the valley, which is located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Kabul.

A former Afghan vice president, Amrullah Saleh, and an opposition leader, said his side had not given up.

“There is no doubt that we are in a difficult situation. We are under the Taliban invasion,” he said in a video posted on Twitter by the BBC World correspondent.

Several other resistance leaders also denied reports of the fall of Panjshir, where thousands of fighters from regional militias and remnants of the old government’s forces had gathered.

News of the conquests of Panjshir spread in the Pakistani media. “This is a lie,” said Ahmed Masoud, who commands the forces.

The pro-Taliban Twitter accounts broadcast videos purporting to show that the fighters of the new regime seized tanks and other heavy military equipment inside the valley.

Taliban and resistance tweets indicated that the main Parian district had been captured and lost again, but this also could not be independently verified.

While the West adopted a wait-and-see approach to the group, there were some signs of engagement with the new leaders gathering pace.

US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is scheduled to travel to Qatar on Sunday, a major hub for Afghan evacuations and the location of the Taliban’s political office, though he is not expected to meet the militants.

He is then scheduled to travel to Germany to lead a hypothetical 20-nation ministerial meeting on Afghanistan alongside German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

The United Nations has already resumed humanitarian flights to parts of the country, while Ariana Afghan Airlines resumed domestic flights on Friday and the United Arab Emirates sent a plane carrying “urgent medical and food aid”.

Meanwhile, both Western Union and MoneyGram said they were resuming money transfers, which many Afghans depend on from their relatives abroad to survive, and Qatar said it was working to reopen Kabul Airport – a lifeline to help.

China has confirmed that it will keep its embassy in Kabul open.

“We hope that the Taliban will establish an open and inclusive political structure, pursue a moderate and stable domestic and foreign policy, and achieve a clear break with all terrorist groups,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.

Even before the Taliban’s blitzkrieg, Afghanistan was heavily dependent on aid – 40% of the country’s gross domestic product came from foreign funding.

The United Nations has warned that 18 million people face a humanitarian catastrophe, and another 18 million could quickly join them.

Doha’s envoy to Afghanistan told Al Jazeera on Friday that Qatar hopes to see the establishment of humanitarian aid corridors at Afghan airports within 48 hours.

The new rulers vowed to be more accommodating than they had been during their first tenure, which also came after years of conflict — first the 1979 Soviet invasion, then a bloody civil war.

This regime was famous for its brutal interpretation of Islamic law, and its treatment of women, who were forced to enter, denied access to school and work and denied freedom of movement.

This time around, the Taliban have made repeated statements that they will not carry out retaliatory attacks on opponents and that women will get education and some jobs, but there is mounting evidence from across Afghanistan that the biggest changes may be in messaging, instead. of ideology.

They have promised a more “inclusive” government that represents Afghanistan’s complex ethnic makeup – although women are unlikely to be included at the top levels.

Residents also expressed concern about the country’s long-running economic hardship, which has now been seriously exacerbated by the hard-line movement’s seizure of power.

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