On Sunday, the head of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), the Afghan opposition leader Ahmad Massoud, press the Taliban leaders to stop its assault on the last regions of Afghanistan not still under its control to enter into peaceful dialogues amid reports of intense fighting.

In a Facebook post, Massoud said that his organization settled to stop the battle and enter into peace talks with the Taliban if it ends its armed attacks as well as movements in the Panjshir Valley and a corresponding region. Moreover, the statement comes after reports of hefty fighting on Sunday in the mineral-rich area of Panjshir, the last of the country’s thirty-four provinces not to fall to the insurgents since the United States started its now-completed evacuation of troops from Afghanistan last month.

The Panjshir Valley remains the last bastion resisting Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The National Resistance Front say they want peaceful talks with the Taliban, but are prepared to defend it “till the last drop of our blood.” pic.twitter.com/iRavq5Z1te

— DW News (@dwnews) September 1, 2021

The opposition leader also said there was no logical or human reason for the insurgents to launch an illegal attack in the holdout regions where residents don’t recognize the authority of the Taliban. However, the father of Masoud was an opposition commander who fought the Taliban troops in the 1990s and early 2000s, and he allied with other anti-Taliban figures such as the former Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who declared himself acting president.

How many Americans are still in Afghanistan

Last month, the Taliban insurgents swept through Afghanistan as the United States prepared to pull out its remaining troops from the country, rapidly capturing the capital, Afghanistan, on 15th August and leaving Afghans (who assisted the American military) and Americans scrambling to evacuate. Furthermore, the United States completed the evacuation process of its troops on 30th August, one day before the declared deadline.

Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff, said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that approximately there are around a hundred Americans still in Afghanistan who are making their efforts to withdraw. Taliban allegedly block nineteen Americans from departing on evacuation flights at the Mazar-i-Sharif airport.

“Since March, we reached out 19 times to Americans in Afghanistan w/ warnings and offers to help them leave Afghanistan.”
Says the U.S. evacuated 5,500 Americans & the 100-200 left behind were largely dual citizens who “decided to stay because of their family roots [there].”

— Caitlin Doornbos (@CaitlinDoornbos) August 31, 2021

In principle, Massoud said in the Face post that the NRFA agrees to resolve the current issues and immediately put the fight to an end and continue talks with the Taliban. Further, he added that to reach a lasting peace, the NRF is ready to halt aggression if the insurgents also stop their aggression in Andarab and Panjshir. Afterward, he continued that a massive gathering of all stakeholders with the Ulema council of religious scholars could be held.

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