I will not surrender to the Taliban, Ready to fight: Afghanistan Leader Ahmad Massoud
New Delhi: A Brave leader of Afghanistan Ahmad Massoud on Sunday cleared his stand on the Taliban. Ahmad Massoud said that he hoped to hold peace talks with the Islamist movement that seized power in Kabul a week ago, but his forces are ready to fight.
The son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was one of the main leaders of Afghanistan`s anti-Soviet resistance in the 1980s.
On a phone call, Ahmad Massoud told the media that we want to make the Taliban realize that the only way forward is through negotiation. We do not want a war to break out.
The mountainous Panjshir valley northwest of Kabul is still not in a control of the Taliban. The Taliban on Sunday said that “hundreds of its fighters were heading to the Panjshir Valley, one of the few parts of Afghanistan not yet controlled by the group.”
Massoud is in Panjshir valley northwest of Kabul and gathered forces made up of remnants of regular army units and the Special Forces as well as local militia fighters.
Ahmad Massoud called for a comprehensive government to rule the country with the participation of the Taliban, adding that war will be “unavoidable” if the Taliban refuse dialogue,
Massoud said, “government forces opposed to the Taliban have rallied from different provinces and gathered in his stronghold, the Panjshir valley.”
“I ask: Will you, dear friends in freedom, assist us once more, as in the past? Despite the betrayal of some, we still have confidence in you. We Afghans find ourselves in the situation of Europe in 1940. Except in Panjshir, the debacle is near total, and the spirit of collaboration with the Taliban is spreading among the vanquished, who lost this war by their failings. Only we remain standing. And we will never yield,” he said.
