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Guerrilla war against Taliban raging on in Panjshir, says resistance movement

"The Taliban doesn’t control the whole territory of Afghanistan," Leader of the National Congress Party of Afghanistan Abdul Latif Pedram noted

MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. Guerrilla warfare against the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) conducted by the resistance movement in Afghanistan rages on in the valleys of the country’s northeast Panjshir Province and in the neighboring districts of Baghlan Province, Leader of the National Congress Party of Afghanistan supporting the resistance, Abdul Latif Pedram reported on Wednesday.

He stated that the resistance controls the mountain valleys and hills on both sides of the main road through the Panjshir Valley. "The main road is controlled by the Taliban. The mountain valleys on both sides and hills of this valley are under the control of the resistance movement. The guerrilla war is continuing in the valleys of Panjshir as well as in the Andarab <…> districts of Baghlan Province," Pedram said.

According to him, there are districts not subjugated by the Taliban in a majority of provinces. The Taliban doesn’t control the whole territory of Afghanistan," he added.

The main objectives of the resistance movement remain the same "to form an independent national government, open to everyone," Pedram concluded.

After the United States announced plans for its troop pullout from Afghanistan, the Taliban embarked on a large-scale operation to take the country under its control. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance and then Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and fled the country. Those unwilling to accept Taliban rule banded together to form a resistance movement in the Panjshir Valley, led by Ahmad Massoud, son of Ahmad Shah Massoud (1953-2001). Former Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who has claimed the office of acting president of Afghanistan is calling on the Afghan public to support Massoud.

At the beginning of September, the Taliban said that it had taken complete control of Panjshir and other territories of Afghanistan. On September 7, the Taliban announced a new Afghan government consisting only of the movement’s members.

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