Highlights
- Taliban claims to have met Panjshir rebel leader Ahmed Masood in Iran
- Fighters led by Ahmed Masood are still attacking the Taliban in the Panjshir Valley
- Taliban claims it has also met Ismail Khan, the former governor of Herat
The Taliban have claimed to have met Panjshir rebel leader Ahmed Masood in Iran. National Resistance Front (NRF) fighters, led by Ahmed Masood, continue to attack the Taliban in the Panjshir Valley. The Taliban claimed that it had also met Ismail Khan, the former governor of Herat. Meanwhile, the NRF has denied any such meeting.
The Taliban issued a statement saying that its Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki had met with Ahmed Masood. Muttaki also claimed that all Afghan people are free to return to their country where they are welcome. It is being claimed that the Iranian military has arranged a meeting between the visiting Taliban Foreign Minister and Masood, who is visiting Iran. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah has given information in this regard by tweeting.
Insurgents deny meeting with Taliban
Experts say that Iran wants to make a deal between Ahmed Masood and the Taliban. Although whether it will be liked by Pakistan or not, it cannot be said. Meanwhile, the rebels claim that no such meeting has taken place between Ahmed Masood and the Taliban in Iran. NRF spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi said there was no meeting between the two in Tehran. The Taliban Foreign Minister has arrived on an important visit to Iran at this time.
Earlier last year, during the fighting, Taliban militants occupied the Panjshir Valley, a rebel stronghold in Afghanistan. The insurgents, however, rejected the Taliban’s claim and said they were still present on strategically important fronts in the mountains. The Taliban had released a video saying that its fighters had entered the house of Ahmed Masood. It is being told that Ahmed Masood had gone to Tajikistan in view of the Talibani threat and is now living there.
Under the control of Masood supporters whole area of the valley
The Anti Resistance Force, a group of insurgents, has vowed that they will continue fighting in the Panjshir Valley. He said that we still retain our hold on strategically important positions in the Valley. He said his struggle against the Taliban and their allies would continue in the future. The Taliban control 70 percent of Panjshir’s roads and routes to the valley, but the entire area is still under the control of Masood supporters.
.