Afghan Resistance Ready For Conflict But Prefers Negotiations: Report

 Afghan Resistance Ready For Conflict But Prefers Negotiations: Report


Kabul: 

Former Afghan government forces forming a resistance movement in a fortified valley are preparing for "long-term conflict", but are also seeking to negotiate with the Taliban, their spokesman told AFP in an interview.

Since the Taliban took control of the country following a lightning charge into the capital Kabul, thousands of people have made their way to Panjshir to both join the fight and find a safe haven to continue their lives, Ali Maisam Nazary said.

There, Ahmad Massoud, the son of legendary Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud who was assassinated by Al-Qaeda two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks, has assembled a fighting force of around 9,000 people, Nazary added.

Pictures taken by AFP during training exercises show dozens of recruits performing fitness routines, and a handful of armoured humvees driving across the valley northeast of Kabul.

The National Resistance Front's main goal is to avoid further bloodshed in Afghanistan and press for a new system of government.

But Nazary said the group is also prepared for conflict, and if the Taliban do not negotiate they will face resistance across the country.

"The conditions for a peace deal with the Taliban is decentralisation -- a system that ensures social justice, equality, rights, and freedom for all," said Nazary, the NRF's head of foreign relations, adding if the Taliban do not agree there will be "long-term conflict".

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