Anti-Taliban Remnant Vows Resistance to ‘Pariah’ Govt

Massoud calls for national uprising against Taliban

The anti-Taliban remnant force based in Panjshir Valley took quite a hit in relevance over the past week, being effectively wiped out militarily by the Taliban. The group, however, is vowing to continue its resistance.

After the fall of Panjshir, remnant leader Ahmad Shah Massoud went missing. He and former VP Amrullah Salaeh are reportedly still at large inside Afghanistan, according to former Afghan officials familiar with the situation.

Massoud’s rebelling doesn’t seem to have lasted all that long, but he’s not giving up, calling on the entire nation to rise up against the Taliban, warning they are going to turn Afghanistan into a pariah state.

With Panjshir no longer in open rebellion, the Taliban are likely to just move forward with governing Afghanistan. Surprising no one familiar with Afghanistan’s history, however, they will have enemies looking for every opportunity to rise against them.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.