A Taliban spokesman said Monday that the group recaptured three districts in Afghanistan’s northeast Baghlan province that fell to anti-Taliban forces over the weekend.
The Baghlan districts of Bano, Deh Saleh, Pul e-Hesar are near the neighboring province of Panjshir and the Panjshir Valley, where an anti-Taliban resistance group is forming.
It’s estimated that there are about 6,000 fighters in or near the Panjshir Valley. Ahmad Massoud, the son of the late mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, has emerged as a figurehead of the Panjshir resistance.
Massoud told Reuters on Sunday that while his group is ready to fight, that he hopes to hold talks with the Taliban to reach a solution. “We want to make the Taliban realize that the only way forward is through negotiation,” he said. “We do not want a war to break out.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Monday that Taliban forces were established in areas near Panjshir and that the anti-Taliban fighters were blockaded inside the Panjshir valley. Mujahid said the Taliban was trying to resolve the situation peacefully. “The Islamic Emirate is trying to resolve the issue peacefully,” he said.
The region of Afghanistan around Panjshir appears to be the only area where there is armed resistance to the Taliban, and the Taliban controls virtually all of the country. Taliban leaders are engaged in talks with some former Afghan officials on the structures of a future government, which is expected to be announced soon.
Another neocon hope dashed…
Also a Modi regime hope. Modifellating Bhaktonazis were in palpitations at the thought of Saleh – whom they had never heard of a week ago but who’s their great hero now – recapturing Kabul.
It is not Modi. It is a strong pro-American segment of Indian population. US actually cultivates these Indo-Americans for decades. Primarily in IT sector, but also in business management, media,
Modi is walking a tightrope, as he must appease these well to do and professionally aspiring young people.
But he also needs to build a nation that is less focused on Western lifestyle. And more focused on national interest and economic development,
Sure, the Indo-Americans are hoping for a miracle to have chaos return to Afghanistan, But that is not Midi’s interest and in the interest of country’s security apparatus.
Modi has managed to get part of the country turn patriotic, but the rabid pro-Western camp is accusing them of xenophobia, and even recruited Moslems in playing victim card.
But Afghanistan has changed this calculus, Muslims in India are pleased as a whole that occupation of Afghanistan is over, and are respecting Modi’s cautious stance, in line with Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan.
By cautioning against militants and extremists, Modi will — after a certain decent period, follow what other major players in the area will do.
Modi is deliberately staying out of RCEP, China led trade alliance that includes ASEAN, plus Korea and Japan. The only larger trade group is WTO.
Modi knows that Indo-Americans will be further split by this decision. Between those who want to follow US lead no matter what, and those that would like to see India follow Asian economic destiny and follow Korean and Japanese lead.
The more Midi splinters the pro-American camp, the more he can ficus in region’s economic growth,
One thing that could undermine Modi is COVID, But Indian military is much tighter integrated with Russian even Chinese militaries than it looks on surface, and any other occupant of presidency will quickly learn India’s military establishment’s independence.
Prior to Kabul debacle, SCO armies were planning exercise in Russia by the end of the month. They may postpone — not to rub it in,
Present will be: China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kirgyzstan — and host, Russia.
“Modi has managed to get part of the country turn patriotic, but the rabid pro-Western camp is accusing them of xenophobia, and even recruited Moslems in playing victim card.”
Where in the world did you get that? Modi is grovelling in his servility to zionism and actually campaigned for Trump in 2020.
Under Modi India has abandoned any pretence of neutrality and Modi regime stooge media act as though any misfortune of Amerikastan’s is a defeat for India.
I’m Indian, I know what Modi is like.
Likely Indian Muslim, not Hindu, so freer with criticism.
More clear headed than Hindus that worship Modi as a reincarnated god, though.
The Indian Hindus are trolling what the fuss is all about, Afghanis fleeing the country yet Afghanis are Muslims and getting Sharia law like the ‘want’.
I’m not a Muslim, and the opposition to Modi comes more from Hindus than from Muslims. It’s because of Hindus that Modi’s been losing one state after another in recent days, not Muslims.
As for the Muslims, they’re hopelessly divided. Shia mass support Modi in the deranged belief that because he’s sticking it to Sunnis he must be good for them. (Ironically ten young Shia men just got locked up for chanting “Long Live Qazi Sir” at a Muharraam meeting after Modi regime lapdog media claimed that they chanted “long live Pakistan “.) Meanwhile Indian Arabs (Bohri Sunni Muslims, of Yemeni origin) are 100% pro Modi because they’re a business community and Modi’s good for corporate balance sheets.
Islam is diverse, yes. Apart from the violence, there’s nothing wrong with that diversity of opinions over Islam.
Modi’s also been in power for a long time; no leader in office stays beloved forever.
At the end of the day, though, a COVID economic downturn is going to be the main driver of discontent.
Because what Afghanistan totally needs is another American sponsored civil war. Why Afghans are practically crying out for us to give them the freedom once more.
The question is not whether Afghanistan has another civil war. That’s going to happen regardless. The question is whether the US government sponsors one or more sides in that civil war.
The Taliban could drop the hijab requirement, make gender studies obligatory in every school, college, training institute, university, medressah and licensed daycare in Afghanistan, institute mandatory quotas for hiring women, gays, transvestites, transsexuals and also cats in every government agency and private business and conduct diversity training and sensitivity training at gunpoint, send drag queens on an all-singing, all-dancing government sponsored tour of Helmand Province, hand out medals to every translator, and declare agnosticism to be the new state religion, and the US and its vassals still would push for war and/or sanctions.
Not yet. Panjshir valley is a natural fortress of the Northern Alliance that held out against Taliban 1.0 at the height of their power.
The Northern Alliance are Tajik and Uzbek, and elevated by the U.S. to be the elite core of the Afghan National Army.
Massoud wants a seat at the big table. Perhaps as the vice president.
I suspect a 360 degree pincer movement is building.
A stratagem exists where he relents and bows out gracefully. Cooperation is a bigger picture concept the Taliban can respect. They’d prefer no political, ideological, and geographic islands.
As if the Taliban would embrace an obvious fifth column in a new government.
As the Jordanian debacle proved just cause u look like daddy doesn’t mean u r as capable as daddy
The Taliban need to ensure Massoud can’t rebuild the Northern Alliance, through direct rebellion, a fifth column in a Taliban government, or NATO partition, if only supported by airbridge.
Massoud the Tajik is never going to be onside with Pashtun rule any more than the Pashtun majority will accept Tajiks as their equals AND working with foreigners. The rest of Afghanistan has also seen what NATO can do, and are more tired of Westerners than fighting them.
After the original Mujahideen drove out the Soviets, they broke into two main camps based on ethnic lines. Pashtuns were Taliban and Tajiks (with Uzbeks) were Northern Alliance.
The only way Tajiks like Massoud can matter is with alliance with foreigners as they were against the Soviets. Its a serious weak point in the Taliban resurgence, though some think its not a playable card for Western forces. Tajikistan proper is Russian-aligned; there are limits to their support and that limit is wasting Tajik lives to fight for the West, staking their ancient enclave in Afghanistan.
https://anti-empire.com/looks-like-there-may-be-no-anti-taliban-northern-alliance-remnant-this-time
Panjshir is a natural fortress; the Taliban would likely suffer heavy losses trying to take it. Losing or pyrric victory would demonstrate weakness that could possibly spark greater ethnic tensions with the Tajik and Uzbek minorities.
They formed the old Northern Alliance, but also formed the elite core of the Afghan National Army including the majority officers corps and special forces. One of the reasons NATO failed, was over reliance on minority forces.
One of the reasons Massoud could fail badly, is that the Afghan Special Forces working for the invader were little better than NATO forces in terms of careless killings.
This is the ‘civil war’ the Euros and Euro-First Americans want. The Northern Alliance never moved far from their geographical advantage under Taliban 1.0, even as they could never be defeated by Taliban 1.0 light infantry alone.
Massoud may believe Tajiks could form a kind of partition zone like in Syria, but continuing the Afghan war this way wouldn’t be cheap long-term and lose all the benefits of ‘leaving’.
“Pashtuns were Taliban and Tajiks (with Uzbeks) were Northern Alliance.”
Perfectly wrong.
The Pashtun Mujahideen disintegrated into warring factions or just plain banditry, local warlords splitting South Afghanistan into their own little fiefdoms, extorting “taxes” and kidnapping children as sex slaves. It was in reaction to this that the Taliban were created in 1994 by a few ex Mujahideen (including Mullahs Omar and Baradar). Their purpose was to fight the Pashtun warlords, and only later did they push on to Kabul. And there were not inconsiderable numbers of Pashtun in the Northern Alliance, which in 1992-4 was busy fighting itself – Tajik versus Hazara – as well as the Pashtun faction of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
You seem to forget, both Mullah Mohammed Omar and Abdul Ghani Baradar are ethnic Pashtuns of the Ghilzai Duranni Pashtun.
The Duranni are the largest and most influential of the pashtun tribes. Its doubtful much gets done in Afghanistan without without a Pashtun consensus with the majority of Duranni on-side.
Conventional history records the Taliban as beginning during the Soviet invasion. Omar and Baradar were leaders of an influential faction that became dominant after 1994, successfully running on a ‘law and order’ platform.
https://www-pub.naz.edu/~aamghar6/History%20of%20the%20Taliban.htm
While my simplification of events ignores a lot of nuance, yours isn’t much better as it suggests anarchy, rather than kinetic politics.
I know perfectly well that they are both of the Hotak Ghilzai clan. So what? The Pashtuns of the Mujahideen didn’t turn into Taliban. The Taliban rose as a group within the Pashtuns to fight other South Afghanistan Mujahideen Pashtuns.
The Mujahideen ceased to exist more or less after the defeat of the Soviets (1989). After that, they were just warlords in a civil war.
The Taliban, such as it was, survived to grow as an organized armed political movement pretexted on religion. They recruited more generations of fighters after those of the Mujahideen era.
The Afghan Civil War (1989-present) never really ended.
However, the idea that the Taliban aren’t Pashtun dominated and that they weren’t originally Mujahideen is kind of disingenuous when Mulah Omar himself was a Pashtun Mujahideen veteran. Where else but the Afghan Mujahideen veteran pool was he going to recruit to fight and train the next generations?
The Western forces still plotting war, hope to keep the Afghan Civil War going until they can step back in; riding in under the Taliban or arranging their removal and returning , its all the same.
I don’t know if you’re hard of reading, but it seems so.
I very clearly said the Taliban arose as a Pashtun movement of ex Mujahideen against Mujahideen (whether past or active) Pashtun warlords in Pashtun South Afghanistan.
You said I ‘perfectly wrong’ for saying the Taliban were Pashtun and Tajiks and Uzbeks were Northern Alliance.
The Taliban fought everyone not agreeable to Taliban rule, including dissenting Pashtuns.
Dissenting Pashtuns may have allied with whomever else they could including Tajiks and Uzbeks, but the Northern Alliance never became a Pashtun organization and remained predominantly a Tajik-Uzbek alliance.
Foreign warmongers would immediately seek to exploit the ethnic division, even if they failed to understand the complexity of actual community relations.
The Taliban didn’t even set put to rule anyone. They set out to clear roads of warlord blockades and open the highway from Kabul to Kandahar.
It was only after their initial massive success that they even developed any plans to move on Kabul.
The Taliban were distinguished from the other ex-Mujahideen warlords by one thing, they were anti-warlord Afghanistan First nation builders.
Control of internal trade routs and pacifying them is critical nation building activity. Securing urban political centres isn’t as important.
The Taliban may have been guided by a 7th century nation-building rulebook, but that’s what won support across ethnicities.
Even those they fought and persecuted, like the Hazari, respected where Taliban were coming from and could use that as a basis to reason with them.
Those warlord blockades existed to extort tolls from business travel and keep the war party going, not part of some greater national peace and prosperity economic plan.
When the Taliban took over the roads, the cities inevitably followed.