Son Of The Lion Of Panjshir Does What Biden Wouldn’t – Afghan Resistance Fights Taliban

The Afghan resistance against Taliban fighters is gradually building up as the militant group seeks to conquer the Panjshir Valley, one of the last remaining strongholds of forces inimical to Taliban.

The Taliban said Sunday it is sending “hundreds” of fighters into the Panjshir Valley, but resisting groups have already started showing clear signs of putting up a fight. Ali Maisam, a spokesperson for a new resistance force out of Panjshir, said Ahmad Massoud has assembled around 9,000 people who will fight Taliban, AFP reported. Nazary warned that the group, called the National Resistance Front (NRF) is prepare to go to battle as it seeks a new system of government for Afghanistan.

Massoud is the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud aka “The Lion of Panjshir,” a legendary mujahideen commander who was assassinated by the Al-Qaeda before the 9/11 attacks.

Massoud said told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya broadcaster that the “Taliban will not last long if it continues on this path,” adding that they are “ready to defend Afghanistan" and warning of a “bloodshed.”

By late Sunday, Nazary confirmed that thousands of people who are anti-Taliban have fled to Panjshir after the militant group seized Kabul. Nazary said some of them wanted to join the battle. He said more than 1,000 displaced people from different parts of the country are now being sheltered in Panjshir.

Nazary said talks between local leaders and authorities in Pakistan went stale a few days ago. “The conditions for a peace deal with the Taliban is decentralization,” he said, adding that the NRF wants “a system that ensures social justice, equality, rights and freedom for all.”

In an opinion piece for the Washington Post last week, Massoud wrote that “the resistance against the Taliban begins now.” However, Massoud acknowledged that the NRF “needs help.” He also requested for weaponry aid from the U.S. and humanitarian assistance. Nazary echoed Massoud’s sentiments, noting that Panjshir needs humanitarian aid to help displaced Afghans who’ve just arrived from Kabul and other Taliban-controlled provinces.

Despite growing resistance in Afghanistan, fears for increased terrorism are still on the rise now that the Taliban has captured most of Afghanistan. In an op-ed for Bloomberg, retired U.S. Navy admiral James G. Stavridis wrote that one of the potential scenarios is Taliban “working with terrorist groups.” The Taliban sheltered Al-Qaeda leaders during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Also, the Taliban has yet to officially denounce the Al-Qaeda. On the “Lara Logan Has No Agenda” show aired Sunday, host Lara Logan asked Taliban chief spokesperson Suhail Shaheen about the extremist group’s refusal to completely cut ties with the Al-Qaeda but Shaheen refused to condemn the militants.

Earlier Sunday, Defense Minister General Bismillah Mohammadi said three districts near Panjshir Valley have been seized by remnants of government forces and anti-Taliban groups, Reuters reported. The Taliban have yet to comment on the alleged takeover of three districts, but the militant group still has control of major Afghan cities.

The U.S. under President Joe Biden pulled out military forces from Afghanistan in July as part of his declaration in April to remove U.S. presence in the country by the end of August. The hasty exit of American military left Afghan military vulnerable and ultimately allowed the Taliban seizure of capital Kabul. Thousands of Afghan allies and other American citizens are still stranded in Afghanistan.