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Afghan militant group dares Taliban, vows to resist new govt

An Afghanistan militant group, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), has vowed to resist the new Taliban government if they refuse to embrace peace, saying it is ready to go to battle as they have enough men to take on the regime.

Speaking in an interview with the BBC on Monday, Head of Foreign Relations for NRF, Ali Nazary, said they were set for battle against the Taliban, stressing that no one would be allowed to conquer their land.

According to Nazary, they prefer peace through negotiation and if the Taliban fails to embrace peace, they would resort to using force.

“We prefer peace, we prioritise peace and negotiations. If this fails, if we see that the other side is not sincere, if we see that the other side is trying to force itself on the rest of the country, then we’re not going to accept any sort of aggression.

And we’ve proven ourselves, our track record in the past 40 years has shown that no one is able to conquer our region, especially the Panjshir Valley”, Nazary said.

The Taliban took over Kabul, the Afghanistan capital on August 15 after the United States withdrew its troops from the country and though they have been trying to form a new government, its fighters have been on the rampage, targeting citizens they believed had sympathy for US and the fallen regime, as well as making drastic decrees that many international political analysts say would push the country into a state of anarchy.

Taliban takes complete control of Afghan north as residents hide indoors

Taliban fighters have taken complete control of captured territories in northern Afghanistan, tightening their grips on the provinces while residents hide in their homes amidst threats by pro-government forces to fight to the death to defend Mazar-i-Sharif, the biggest city in the north yet to fall to the armed group.

According to the Taliban media team, as at Tuesday morning, all but one of the northern provinces in the war-torn country were under its control and they will do everything possible to prevent government troops from further advancement.

In a statement on Tuesday morning, President Ashraf Ghani called on regional ‘strongmen’ to support his embattled government after a stunning string of Taliban victories as it was up to the forces to defend themselves.

In the town of Aibak, capital of Samangan province on the main road between Mazar-i-Sharif and the national capital, Kabul, Taliban fighters were consolidating their grip, moving into government buildings, as government security forces appeared to have withdrawn from the town, residents said, as they kept off the streets.

The only way is self-imposed house arrest or to find a way to leave for Kabul. But then, even Kabul is not a safe option anymore,” said Sher Mohamed Abbas, a provincial tax office, when asked about living conditions in the town.

Abbas said Taliban had arrived at his office and told workers to go home. He and other residents said they had not seen nor heard fighting on Tuesday.