Clashes Erupt In Panjshir Valley As Taliban Tries To Form Gov't

Clashes between the Taliban and resistance fighters erupted near fighters near Panjshir Valley during Tuesday night, according to the warring sides, and marred what the Taliban said was an effort to form a new government, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Photo Insert: Panjshayr River Valley shot from the vantage point of Ahmad Shah Massoud's Tomb. Massoud was a Kabul University engineering student turned military leader who played a leading role in driving the Soviet army out of Afghanistan.

Panjshir is the only district that was not taken in the Taliban's offensive this month. Nor was it taken in 1996-2001, partially because the region is only accessible through a valley that is relatively easy to defend.

Negotiations have not yet led to "positive results," The Taliban said. A former lawmaker from the province Zalmay Noori told dpa that the Taliban wanted the fighters to surrender but that resistance forces had repelled Taliban attacks.

The Taliban was said to be on the verge of forming a government on Wednesday, after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told dpa there was still no exact information about the timing.

He also left open whether Taliban leader Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada would appear in public for the first time since the Islamists took power."We are waiting," Mujahid said.

A senior Taliban leader later said that the new Taliban government, which is expected in the coming days, will not include any high-ranking officials from the previous governments in Afghanistan.

In an interview with the BBC, the deputy head of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, said the militant group is trying to form a government that has domestic and international support.

However, Stanekzai emphasized that the government would not include figures who held posts as ministers, governors, generals, or other key positions during the past 20 years.

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