Clashes Erupt in Northern Afghanistan as Taliban Pursue Talks With Former Foes

The Taliban fought fatal battles with budding resistance forces in northern Afghanistan, as political negotiations on a broader govt moved forward in Kabul and obtain to the city’s U.S.-operate airport remained complicated for 1000’s of Afghans trying to flee.

Even though most of Afghanistan’s army and security forces collapsed, some of the Taliban’s most focused foes have retreated to the Panjshir valley northeast of Kabul, pledging to go on the struggle from the country’s only province not under Taliban sway.

They consist of the fallen Afghan republic’s defense minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who claims to be Afghanistan’s authentic leader following President Ashraf Ghani abandoned his duties and fled the region Aug. 15 and Ahmad Massoud, a son of renowned Panjshiri commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Video clip posted on social media showed casualties and preventing amongst Taliban forces and anti-Taliban militias in the Andarab valley of the northern Baghlan province, adjoining Panjshir, and big convoys of Taliban reinforcements in U.S.-bought Ford Rangers and Humvees traveling the Islamist movement’s white flag.

Even though the militias in Baghlan are allied with the forces in Panjshir, they acted independently in attacking the Taliban, mentioned Ali Nazary, head of international relations for the new National Resistance Entrance that is primarily based in Panjshir and contains some 1,000 Afghan army commandos who refused to surrender when the rest of the armed forces melted absent, as well as some helicopters.