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'Those who want to fight...': Taliban's message to Panjshir leaders after talks fail
Panjshir Valley has become the centre of resistance against the Taliban after Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, fell to insurgents last month.
The negotiations between the Taliban and leaders of Panjshir have failed, reported news agency AFP on Wednesday. Mullah Amir Khan Motaqi, the head of Taliban’s commission for guidance & encouragement, reportedly said that the negotiations with tribal elders and leaders of Panjshir in Parwan province "went in vain."
"My brothers, we tried our best to solve the Panjshir problem with talks and negotiations... but unfortunately all in vain," Muttaqi said in an audio message to the people of the Panjshir posted on Twitter.
Panjshir Valley has become the centre of resistance against the Taliban after Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, fell to insurgents last month. The Northern Alliance, a coalition of ethnic Uzbek and Tajik forces concentrated in Panjshir Valley, has vowed to continue fighting the Taliban.
Ahmad Massoud, son of the slain hero of the anti-Soviet resistance Ahmad Shah Massoud, has been leading the anti-Taliban coalition in Panjshir. Amrullah Saleh, the first vice president of the ousted Afghan government, has backed the coalition in their fight against the Taliban.
The senior Taliban official blamed the leaders of Panjshir for the failed negotiations, saying there are still some people in the valley who "don't want the problems to be solved peacefully.
"Now it is up to you to talk to them," Muttaqi said in a message to the people of Panjshir. "Those who want to fight, tell them it is enough."
Watch: Taliban men killed by Panjshir Resistance fighters
Reports suggest that the Taliban fighters attacked the valley from two fronts as soon as the last US soldiers boarded their flight out of Afghanistan to end the decades-long war.
Fahim Dashti, an official of the National Resistance Front comprising anti-Taliban militia fighters and former Afghan security forces, said that the Taliban perhaps wanted to "try their luck."
"By the grace of God, luck wasn't on their side," Dashti said in a video posted by Voice of America's Dari language service.
The mountain valley, which begins around 80 kilometres north of the capital Kabul, stood strong against the Taliban rule from 1996-2001 before the US-led foreign troops invaded Afghanistan.
(With inputs from agencies)
