Civil war threat looms as fighting rages in Af
KABUL: Taliban fighters advanced deep into the last holdout province of Panjshir on Sunday, as the top US general warned Afghanistan faces a wider civil war that would offer fertile ground for a resurgence of terrorism.
Following their lightning-fast rout of Afghanistan’s army last month – and celebrations Monday when the last US troops flew out after 20 years of war – the Taliban are seeking to crush resistance forces defending the mountainous Panjshir Valley.
The Taliban, who rolled into Kabul three weeks ago at a speed that analysts say likely surprised even the hardline Islamists themselves, are yet to finalise their new regime.
But top US General Mark Milley questioned whether they can consolidate power as they seek to shift from a guerrilla force to government. “I think there’s at least a very good probability of a broader civil war,” said Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a bleak assessment.
“That will then in turn lead to conditions that could, in fact, lead to a reconstitution of Al-qaeda or a growth of ISIS (Islamic State group),” he told Fox News Saturday.
Former vice-president Amrullah
Saleh, who is holed out in Panjshir alongside Ahmad Massoud – the son of legendary antitaliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud – warned of a grim situation. Saleh in a statement spoke of a “large-scale humanitarian crisis”, with thousands “displaced by the Taliban onslaught”.
Massoud said he welcomed proposals from religious scholars for a negotiated settlement to end the fighting. The head of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA) made the announcement on the group’s Facebook page. Earlier, Taliban forces said they had fought their way into the provincial capital of Panjshir after securing the surrounding districts.
“The NRF in principle agree to solve the current problems and put an immediate end to the fighting and continue negotiations,” Massoud said in the Facebook post.
“To reach a lasting peace, the NRF is ready to stop fighting on condition that Taliban also stop their attacks and military movements on Panjshir and Andarab,” he said, referring to a district in the neighbouring province of Baghlan. A large gathering of all sides with the Ulema council of religious scholars could then be held, he said.
There was no immediate response from the Taliban.
Taliban’s deputy head Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, meanwhile, met UN under-secretarygeneral Martin Griffiths, urging the UN’S humanitarian assistance to the country, Tolonews reported on Sunday.
After the meeting at the country’s foreign ministry in Kabul, Griffiths said that the UN will continue its support and cooperation to Afghanistan, the report said. Afghanistan’s new rulers have pledged to be more accommodating than during their first stint in power.