War declared to the Taliban?

War declared to the Taliban?

A resistance movement was formed in Panjshir Valley, the only province that extremists could not conquer.

At the head of the resistance movement were the acting president of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh, and Ahmad Masood, the son of the well-known commander Ahmad Shah Masood. Masood said that the residents of Panjshir are ready to resist the Taliban and not to surrender the province.

Panjshir is one of the 34 Afghan provinces in which the majority of the population is Tajik.

It is strategically important because it has the most suitable mountain passes that connect the southern and northern part of the country, while the complex system of tributaries of the river of the same name in narrow gorges provides an excellent refuge in case of war. Panjshir is an inaccessible fortress surrounded on all sides by mountains.

During the 1980s, the Soviet army conducted nine operations, but failed to drive out the enemy.

They would regroup quickly each time. The commander of the 40th Army, General Igor Rodionov, considered the fighting in the Panjshir Gorge to be the most difficult.

It could only be entered here through a narrow passage from the Charikar region, the neighboring province of Parwan.

It was here that the resistance forces dealt the first blow to the Taliban.

Last week, Saleh and Masood's detachments regained control of Charikar and the road to the gorge. In addition, they managed to cut off a strategically important road through the Salang Tunnel that connects Kabul with Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city in northern Afghanistan.

The insurgents' military successes have severely hampered Taliban logistics. Више о овом изворном За додатне информације о превођењу треба вам изворни текст It is obvious that Panjshir is a bone in the throat of the new government. However, the Taliban haven't so far tried to attack the center of resistance.

"The militants are cautious because they do not know what forces will resist them. From here, twenty years ago, the Northern Alliance under the command of Ahmad Shah Masood went to war against the Taliban. However, he had international support. Will his son also find the allies is a big question and it depends on whether the resistance has a chance", Abbas Juma, an expert on the Middle East explains.

Ahmad Masood has already addressed the international community. In a letter published in the "Washington Post", he called for help in weapons, ammunition and equipment, emphasizing that the Taliban are not just a problem of the Afghan people. Extremists can turn the state into a center of Islamic terrorism against democratic states.

"The United States and its allies have left the battlefield, but America can still become a 'great arsenal of democracy,' as Franklin Roosevelt said, coming to the aid of the British before the United States entered World War II. With the same goal, I beg our Western friends to support us in Washington and New York, to support us in Congress and the Biden administration, in London, where I was educated and in Paris where last spring, in honor of my father, they named an alley on the Champs Elysees", Ahmad Masood said. Without outside support, the chances of resisting the Taliban are slim.

Panjshir is completely surrounded. The Taliban control the borders and have an impressive arsenal of weapons that they seized at military bases.

According to the most modest estimates, terrorists can send about 100.000 soldiers to the rebel provinces, and Saleh and Masood do not have more than 5.000 people under arms. Of course, the son of the famous commander has great authority among the Afghan Tajiks, who will most likely be followed by a larger number of the local population.

However, that is not enough for serious resistance to the Taliban. Masood understands this and considers various variants. Over the weekend, he gave an interview to the newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat" in which he stated that he maintains contacts with the Taliban.

He underlined that he is ready to make a compromise with all opponents and to form an inclusive government in the country, which will obviously include emigrants from Panjshir. He added that he was categorically against a government that would consist exclusively of the Taliban.

Units of government forces headed towards Panjshir and refused to join the Taliban. A source from the Afghan capital told Sputnik that 10.000 people with weapons and equipment, including tanks, were moving towards the region, under the leadership of General Abdul-Rashid Dostum.

Many have been trained by Western instructors who have experience in fighting the Taliban and, more importantly, they have retained the motivation to fight. The units of the first front line have already reached their destination. In addition, Saleh and Masood count on the support of residents of other provinces.

They call on Afghans to resist the Taliban. As the events of the last few days have shown, the state lacks those who are ready to resist.

Thus, on August 19, hundreds of Kabul residents took to the streets with anti-Taliban slogans and state flags. Several people were killed at rallies in Asadabad, while Islamists shot at protesters in Jalalabad and killed three people.

The more brutal the militants, the stronger the resistance of the Afghans.

"Afghanistan is slipping into civil war and the Taliban are in trouble. Yes, they control the main territory of Afghanistan, but there are hotspots that offer resistance. In addition, it should be borne in mind that it is a mountainous country and that the Taliban have a place to hide. The West will start supporting the resistance forces only if the resistance makes sense. The question arises: does it pay off for the United States and the West to support the Taliban resistance movement in the current situation? Of course, it will pay off for them, because tension will remain in Afghanistan and the situation can always be used against Russia and China", political scientist Igor Shatrov said in an interview.

The West has not yet responded to Ahmad Masood's call, and both Washington and Brussels are silent.