Taliban say they took Panjshir, last holdout Afghan province

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KABUL – The Taliban said connected Monday they person taken power of Panjshir state northbound of Kabul, the past holdout of anti-Taliban forces successful the state and the lone state the Taliban had not seized during their blitz crossed Afghanistan past month.

Thousands of Taliban fighters overran 8 districts of Panjshir overnight, according to witnesses from the country who spoke connected information of anonymity, fearing for their safety. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid issued a connection Monday, saying Panjshir was present nether the power of Taliban fighters.

The anti-Taliban forces had been led by the erstwhile vice president, Amrullah Saleh, and besides the son of the iconic anti-Taliban combatant Ahmad Shah Massoud who was killed conscionable days earlier the 9/11 violent attacks successful the United States.

Nestled successful the towering Hindu Kush mountains, the Panjshir Valley has a azygous constrictive entrance. Local fighters held disconnected the Soviets determination successful the 1980s and besides the Taliban a decennary aboriginal nether the enactment of Massoud.

Massoud's lad Ahmad had issued a connection Sunday, calling for an extremity to the warring that had been blistering successful caller days. The young British-schooled Massoud said his forces were acceptable to laic down their weapons but lone if the Taliban agreed to extremity their assault. Late connected Sunday dozens of vehicles loaded with Taliban were seen swarming into Panjshir Valley.

There has been nary connection from Saleh, Afghanistan's erstwhile vice president who had declared himself the acting president aft President Ashraf Ghani fled the state connected Aug. 15 arsenic the Taliban reached the gates of the capital. The Taliban subsequently entered the presidency gathering that day.

In his statement, Mujahid sought to guarantee residents of Panjshir that they would beryllium harmless — adjacent arsenic scores of families reportedly fled into the mountains up of the Taliban's arrival.

“We springiness afloat assurance to the honorable radical of Panjshir that they volition not beryllium subjected to immoderate discrimination, that each are our brothers, and that we volition service a state and a communal goal,” Mujahid said successful his statement.

The Taliban stepped up battle connected Panjshir connected Sunday, tweeting that their forces had overrun Rokha district, 1 of largest of 8 districts successful the province. Several Taliban delegations person attempted negotiations with the holdouts there, but talks has failed to summation traction.

Fahim Dashti, the spokesperson for the anti-Taliban group, was killed successful a conflict connected Sunday, according to the group’s Twitter account. Dashti was the dependable of the radical and a salient media property during erstwhile governments.

He was besides the nephew of Abdullah Abdullah, a elder authoritative of the erstwhile authorities who is progressive successful negotiations with the Taliban connected the aboriginal of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, astatine slightest 4 planes chartered to evacuate respective 100 radical seeking to flight the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan person been incapable to permission the state for days, officials said Sunday, with conflicting accounts emerging astir wherefore the flights weren’t capable to instrumentality disconnected arsenic unit ramps up connected the U.S. to assistance those near down to flee.

An Afghan authoritative astatine the airdrome successful the bluish metropolis of Mazar-e-Sharif said that the would-be passengers were Afghans, galore of whom did not person passports oregon visas, and frankincense were incapable to permission the country. He said they had near the airdrome portion the concern was sorted out.

The apical Republican connected the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, however, said that the radical included Americans and they were sitting connected the planes, but the Taliban were not letting them instrumentality off, efficaciously “holding them hostage.” He did not accidental wherever that accusation came from. It was not instantly imaginable to reconcile the accounts.

The last days of America’s 20-year warfare successful Afghanistan were marked by a harrowing airlift astatine Kabul’s airdrome to evacuate tens of thousands of radical — Americans and their allies — who feared what the aboriginal would hold, fixed the Taliban’s past of repression, peculiarly of women. When the past troops pulled retired connected Aug. 30, though, many were near behind.

The U.S. promised to proceed moving with the caller Taliban rulers to get those who privation to permission out, and the militants pledged to let anyone with the due ineligible documents to leave. But Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas told “Fox News Sunday” that American citizens and Afghan interpreters were being kept connected six planes.

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