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Panjshir resistance wants dialogue with Taliban, but ready to fight — representative

Fahim Dashti added that Panjsher intends to agree not on specific candidacies for the government, but on principal demands regarding the future of Afghanistan

MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/. Resistance forces in Afghanistan’s Panjshir hold direct and indirect talks with the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) and aim for peaceful settlement, but they are also ready for armed fight with the radicals, should they "choose a military option," resistance representative Fahim Dashti told TASS. 

"There are some contacts — directly and indirectly," Dashti said, adding that he cannot go into details.

"From our side the position is to enter a dialog to negotiation which will resolve a better future to Afghanistan, which will provide the rights of the Afghans, as well as social justice and formation of inclusive government which will represent all Afghans and which will be trusted by all Afghans," he said.

He added that Panjshir intends to agree not on specific candidacies for the government, but on principal demands regarding the future of Afghanistan.

"As for positions and individuals we don’t want to enter such a dialogue," he noted.

Speaking about the potential establishment of an inclusive government, Dashti said the resistance has principal demands about it. According to the representative, it must not be a "symbolic representation of ethnic groups in the government."

"We need to negotiate all the issues of the future Afghanistan," he said.

The Panjshir province remains the only center of resistance to the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. The resistance is led by Ahmad Massoud, son of famous field commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, who fought the Taliban in the 1990s. On Saturday, a source told TASS that Massoud commenced negotiations with the Taliban on establishment of an inclusive government and overcoming political disagreements.