According to an AFP report, the Taliban said the Panjshir Valley had been ‘completely captured’. The last Afghanistan province resisting the Taliban acknowledged suffering major battlefield losses and called for a ceasefire. Resistance leader Ahmad Massoud welcomed religious scholars’ proposals for a negotiated settlement to end the fighting on Sunday. Taliban fighters and resistance front fighters had been engaged in a battle for days. The Taliban met in Kabul with the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs on Sunday, who promised to continue providing assistance to the Afghan people, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said.
During Sunday’s fighting in Panjshir, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), which is fighting the Taliban, confirmed the death of its spokesman, Fahim Dashti. Within weeks of assuming control of Afghanistan, the Taliban is set to unveil its newly-formed government. It is likely to be led by the militant group’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Although there is no clear indication of when the new government will be announced, one thing is for certain: the country’s new leaders will have their work cut out for them. On top of the human rights crisis they are currently facing with thousands of Afghans fleeing the Taliban’s rule, the new government will also be severely strapped for cash after nearly all of the country’s major lenders, including the United States, cut off funding.
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