Anti-Taliban forces massing in Panjshir Valley, says Russia

By AFP 19 August 2021, 4:30 pm

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that a resistance to the Taliban is forming in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley led by vice president Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, the son of a famed anti-Taliban fighter.

“The Taliban doesn’t control the whole territory of Afghanistan,” Lavrov tells reporters at a press conference in Moscow following a meeting with his Libyan counterpart.

“There are reports of the situation in the Panjshir Valley where the resistance of Afghanistan’s vice president Mr Saleh and Ahmad Massoud is concentrated,” he said.

In this March 9, 2020, file photo, Afghan first Vice President Amrullah Saleh, center, listens to President Ashraf Ghani, addressing at an inauguration ceremony at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

Lavrov also reiterated his call for an inclusive dialogue involving all political players in Afghanistan for the formation of a “representative government.”