New Delhi: Taliban forces and loyal fighter to local leaders Ahmad Massoud fought in the Panjshir Afghan Valley on Thursday, more than two weeks after the Islamic militia seized power, because Taliban leaders worked on the formation of the government.
Panjshir is a government that rejects the last Afghan province by the Taliban.
Each side says it has caused severe casualties.
“We started the operation after negotiations with local armed groups failed,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Taliban fighters have entered Panjshir and take control of several regions, he said.
“They (enemies) suffer big losses.” A spokesman for the national resistance Front Grouping rebel Afghanistan (NRFA) said it had full control of all trajectories and entrances.
“The enemy made several attempts to enter Shotul from Jabul-Saraj, and failed every time,” he said, referring to a city around the Province of Parwan.
In Panjshir, Nrfa’s spokesman said his troops had killed a large number of Taliban fighters in two fronts since the clashes first broke out early on Sunday.
“It has been proven to the other side that they cannot solve this problem through war,” said the spokesman.
Both parties give numbers that vary for other victims, without offering evidence.
It was impossible to verify the number of warriors on both sides killed.
The Taliban said the Panjshir valley was surrounded on the four sides and the rebel victory was impossible.
The rebels said they would refuse to give up.
Because the Taliban swept Kabul on August 15, several thousand fighters from local militias and the remnants of the government’s armed forces had gathered in Panjshir under the leadership of Massoud, the son of a former commander of Mujahidin.
They have survived in a steep valley where the attack from outside is difficult.
Efforts to negotiate Settlement seem to have been broken down, with each party blame the other because of failure, when the Taliban prepared to announce a new government.
Mujahid said this was a problem a few more days while Taliban officials Ahmadullah Muttaqi said the ceremony was being prepared at the Presidential Palace.
The legitimacy of the government in the eyes of donors and international investors will be very important for the economy.
The economy is expected to sink at 9.7% of the financial year and 5.2% next year, Fitch said in a report.
Foreign investment will be needed to support a more optimistic prospect, a scenario that assumes “some major economies, namely China and Russia, will accept the Taliban as a legitimate government”.
Rebels held in the Afghan valley as the Taliban established a government in Kabul
