E-Paper
Taliban blocking medicine, forcing Panjshir men to walk on minefields, claims Amrullah Saleh
Taliban fighters are also making Panjshir people collect bodies of Taliban fighters from the mountains filled with landmines, reports said.
Anti-Taliban leader and the self-proclaimed acting president of Taliban Amrullah Saleh on Friday claimed that the Taliban have blocked emergency, humanitarian services in the Pajshir valley, the last holdout of the Afghan forces in Afghanistan. As preparations are in full swing in Kabul for the announcement of the new government likely to be headed by Mullah Baradar, reports claimed that the Taliban and Resistance Force clash has intensified in the valley, forcing people to leave the valley. Some reports also claimed that Saleh has also fled to Tajikistan.
Amrullah Saleh tweeted that the Taliban have blocked medicine, shut electricity and are doing racial profiling of travellers. People are only allowed to carry a small amount of cash in the valley. "Talibs are committing war crimes and have zero respect for International Humanitarian Law," Saleh wrote, appealing to the United Nations and world leaders.
The fight between the Resistance Force, lead by Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh, and the Taliban has escalated in the last few days after their talks fail. The clash with no end in the sight has former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai concerned as he appealed to both sides to stop the war as it is not serving any purpose to Afghanistan or to its people.
Both the Taliban and the anti-Taliban forces are claiming victory while the number of casualties remains unknown.
The Panjshir valley remained undefeated during the earlier regime of the Taliban and several countries, including India, had extended support to the Northern Alliance, instead of the Taliban government in power.
An Al Jazeera report claimed that women and children are fleeing Panjshir to other cities, which are captured by the Taliban so that they don't fall victim to the ongoing clashes. Since Panjshir has always remained a peaceful place, people are more scared than other places, the report said.
Taliban fighters are also making Panjshir people collect bodies of Taliban fighters from the mountains. "They know there are landmines there, so they make innocent people gather the bodies," a resident said to Al Jazeera.
