Afghanistan: NRF ready for peace talks with Taliban, says resistance leader Ahmad Massoud

Afghanistan: NRF ready for peace talks with Taliban, says resistance leader Ahmad Massoud

AgenciesUpdated: Sunday, September 05, 2021, 11:22 PM IST
article-image
Afghan men wave a flag above the portrait of late Afghan commander Ahmad Shah Massoud (R) in Paryan district of Panjshir province on August 23, 2021 | (Photo by Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN / AFP)

KABUL: The leader of the Afghan opposition group which is resisting Taliban forces in the Panjshir valley north of Kabul said on Sunday he welcomed proposals from religious scholars for a negotiated settlement to end the fighting.

Ahmad Massoud, head of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), made the announcement on the group's Facebook page. Earlier, Taliban forces said they had fought their way into the provincial capital of Panjshir after securing the surrounding districts.

"The NRF in principle agrees to solve the current problems and put an immediate end to the fighting and continue negotiations," Massoud said in the Facebook post.

"To reach a lasting peace, the NRF is ready to stop fighting on the condition that Taliban also stop their attacks and military movements on Panjshir and Andarab", he said, referring to a district in the neighbouring province of Baghlan.

Earlier, Afghan media outlets reported that an Ulema council of religious scholars had called on the Taliban to accept a negotiated settlement to end the fighting in Panjshir.

The Taliban, meanwhile, said their forces had fought their way into the provincial capital of Panjshir on Sunday, reported Reuters. Opposition forces have been holding Panjshir against the Taliban's desperate attempts to capture the valley since the fall of Kabul three weeks ago. As per the news agency's report, police headquarters and district centre of Rukhah, adjacent to the provincial capital Bazarak, had fallen, and opposition forces had suffered numerous casualties, with large numbers of prisoners and captured vehicles, weapons and ammunition, Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said on Twitter.

RECENT STORIES

Quad Calls For Punishing Perpetrators Of Pahalgam Attack Without Any Delay

Quad Calls For Punishing Perpetrators Of Pahalgam Attack Without Any Delay

US President Donald Trump Vows To Save New York From Zohran Mamdani, Says 'Will Make It Hot & Great...

US President Donald Trump Vows To Save New York From Zohran Mamdani, Says 'Will Make It Hot & Great...

US Gives India Priority As Key South Asia Defence Partner: Pete Hegseth

US Gives India Priority As Key South Asia Defence Partner: Pete Hegseth

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Vows 'There Will Be No Hamas' In Postwar Gaza (VIDEO)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Vows 'There Will Be No Hamas' In Postwar Gaza (VIDEO)

PM Modi Welcomed With ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ Chants In Ghana (VIDEO)

PM Modi Welcomed With ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ Chants In Ghana (VIDEO)