Taliban declares end to war with Panjshir ‘win’; calls China, Pak, Iran to new govt event

Declaring an end to the war in Afghanistan, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Monday, claimed that the Panjshir is now under its control. Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Zabihullah invited Turkey, China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and Qatar to attend the ceremony for government announcement which will be revealed soon. Assuring an 'Islamic and inclusive government', the Taliban warned Afghans from taking up arms terming them as 'enemy of the state'.

Taliban declares end to war

"The war in Afghanistan is over. Panjshir is now under government control. The NRF militia gave negative answers when Taliban tried to negotiate. We caused no civilian casualties in the takeover," said Zabihullah.

Justifying the Pakistan-backed attack on Panjshir, Zabihullah added, "We tried to solve this issue peacefully. But the people who escaped from Kabul thought they could still fight the Taliban. If anyone wants to create problems, we will handle them as we handled Panjshir. We can't confirm the whereabouts of ex-VP Amrullah Saleh but the hunt is on. Electricity and internet will resume in Panjshir Valley."

Zabihullah also assured that with the help of technical teams from Qatar, Turkey and United Arab Emirates operations will restart at Kabul airport. Urging China to recognise to the new Taliban govt, he added, "The Taliban wants good relations with the world, China is a big economic power and Afghanistan needs its support for reconstruction and development". Assuring amnesty to ex-Afghan soldiers, he said, "The Afghan forces who were trained in the past 20 years will be asked to rejoin the security departments alongside the Taliban forces".

Talking about government formation, he said, "The new Afghan govt which will be announced could be an interim one. Some technical issues are left, we want to do a proper job". Stating that Pakistan repeatedly asked to visit Kabul, the Taliban said that it has assured that no one will be allowed to threaten any country from Afghanistan. He also urged women protestors to stop citing 'sensitive security issues' amid the new govt formation.

Taliban takeover

Earlier in the day, the Taliban claimed capture of the last province in Afghanistan - Panjshir. Taking to Twitter, Taliban Spokesperson Zabihullah claimed, "Panjshir province, the last stronghold of the mercenary enemy, was completely conquered". Visuals from Panjshir, shared by local news agency Asvaka News Agency, show Taliban fighters standing outside Panjshir Governor office and the Taliban's flag raised at the office. Meanwhile, NRFA has refuted these allegations saying, "NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight".

The Taliban took over Kabul on August 15 after major cities like Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad and Lashkar Gah fell without resistance as US troops retreat after 20 years from war-torn Afghanistan. The hasty withdrawal of the US troops saw thousands of people attempting to flee from Afghanistan with several clinging to a departing US plane's wheels, leading to them falling to their deaths.  The Taliban has finalised its talks for 'peaceful transition' as Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar gears up to lead the new government with Mullah Mohammad Omar's son Mullah Yakub and Abbas Stanekzai pipped to be in his cabinet. The US has completed evacuating over 130,000 Afghans from Kabul, retreating all its troops.