Kabul: Three Taliban sources said Islamic militias occupied the Panjshir valley in northern Kabul on Friday, the last province in Afghanistan to oppose it, although a resistance leader denied it had fallen.
One Taliban commander said, “By the grace of Allah Almighty, we are in control of entire Afghanistan. The troublemakers have been defeated and Panjshir is now under our command.” Deafening celebratory gunfire reverberated in Kabul, and Facebook accounts flooded with Panjshir’s downfall.
One of the opposition leaders, former Vice President Amrullah Saleh, said his side has not given up. He said on a video clip posted to Twitter by a source that said “There is no doubt we are in a difficult situation. We are under invasion by the Taliban. We have held the ground, we have resisted.”
Earlier, sources reported Mullah Baradar to take charge of the new Govt yet to be formed by the Taliban forces. Baradar would be accompanied by Mullah Yaqoob, the son of late Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, and Sher Mohammed Abbas Stanikzai in senior positions, sources added. As per speculations, the new govt is said to comprise nearly 25 ministries with a consultative council, or shura, of 12 Muslim scholars.
The Taliban took over Afghanistan on 15th August, after the US announced the withdrawal of its troops by 31st August calling off its 20 year-long reign.
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