The Taliban’s claim comes ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Qatar, where they hope to discuss safe passage for Afghans trying to flee the country as well as human rights. issues will also be discussed. .
On Saturday, the Taliban largely broke up the women’s protest in Kabul.
Panjshir, a valley protected by a ring of mountains, is the only part of the country that was not conquered by the Taliban in a lightning strike, which culminated in the capture of Kabul on 15 August.
The Taliban posted a video on Saturday showing what they said were their fighters in seized US-supplied Humvees on a mountain road in Panjshir. It was not clear from the footage where and when it was filmed.
A resistance supporter confirmed the setback, saying the Taliban had entered Panjshir from both the south and north.
Emergency, an Italian-based NGO, said the Taliban had reached the village of Anaba in Panjshir, where it runs a medical centre. It said it had received a small number of injuries at the facility, which is continuing its work.
Officially, however, the insurgents denied that the Taliban had infiltrated.
When the last Taliban regime was in power from 1996 to 2001, it failed to enter Panjshir, where the resistance was then led by Afghan military commander Ahmed Shah Masood. His son, Ahmed Masood, who has no previous fighting experience, is the current leader of the rebels. Panjshir, home of the country’s Tajik ethnic minority, also demonstrated against the Soviet invasion of the 1980s.
“We will never stop fighting for God, freedom and justice,” Mr Masood said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
In Kabul, Taliban fighters and some supporters celebrated the development by shooting in the air, causing casualties. Two hospitals said they found a total of two dead and about 16 injured.
Separately, the women have held several protests as the Taliban strengthened their takeover, including in the far southwestern province of Nimroj and the western city of Herat in recent days.
When the Taliban was in power, women were banned from education and could not leave the house without male escort.
This time, the Taliban has tried to project a more liberal image with respect to women, pledging to respect their rights within the limits of Islam, but without specifying what those limits would be. He has said that women should stay at home until their fighters are educated and sensitive to women’s rights, but gave no time limit.
At a protest in Kabul on Saturday, a small group of women held placards, one of which read, “We are not ’90s women.”
“Taliban, Taliban: Violators of women’s rights” and “With the weapons of education and knowledge, we defend our rights,” read other banners.
Razia Barakzai, the organizer of the march, said when the protesters approached the finance ministry, the Taliban blocked their way and began beating them, firing tear gas and firing shots into the air. He said one of the protesters was seriously injured.
“We want our rights, our equal rights like other human beings. We want participation in politics and social affairs.”
She said it was “painful” that people passing by in the street stood watching when the Taliban were attacking them. She said the Taliban followed each of them home and now knew where they lived.
A picture of another woman at the protest, with blood oozing down her face, was circulated on social media.
The Taliban are still in talks to form a new government. On Friday, Mr Blinken said the US wants to see the Taliban establish a government that includes other Afghan factions and that refrains from retaliation against opponents.
Mr Blinken, who arrived in Qatar on Sunday, said Washington also wants the Taliban to give Afghans freedom to travel.
“We continue to maintain the channels of communication with the Taliban that are important to us,” Mr. Blinken said. US officials said separately that Mr Blinken had no plans to meet with the Taliban in Qatar, where the group holds political offices.
Mr. Austin will depart on Sunday to visit Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Washington says it is working with Qatar and Turkey to reopen the airport, allowing more Afghans to leave the country. Mr Blinken said on Friday that 75% to 80% of the 124,000 people evacuated in the second half of August were Afghans threatened by the Taliban.
Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence espionage agency, arrived in Kabul on Saturday. The Pakistan Army did not comment on their agenda.
Western governments, including the US, have accused Islamabad of supporting the Taliban, charges that the Pakistani government denies. Meanwhile, Islamabad is worried it will face a wave of refugees, and it is also worried about anti-Pakistan extremists in Afghanistan. Western governments have sought help from Pakistan to evacuate the remaining civilians and at-risk Afghans from Afghanistan.
This story has been published without modification to the text from a wire agency feed
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