Neelam Rahim – neelam@radioislam.co.za

4 minute read
15 September 2022
3:20 pm

The Taliban says it has killed 40 members of a rebel force, including four commanders, in the northern Afghanistan province of Panjshir.

As foreign forces withdrew, the Taliban proclaimed victory over the province in September 2021, weeks after it took over Kabul’s capital.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, a Research fellow at the RSIS Singapore, Abdul Basit, explains that although the Taliban took entire Afghanistan, one anti-Taliban force in the Panjshir valley remained and was under the command of the former Afghan anti-resistance commander Ahmed Sha Masood’s son Ahmed Masood.

The group named itself ‘The National Resistance Force’.

According to Abdul, When the Taliban took over, they were able to crush the rebellion, but the remnants of the revolution were still there, including resistance confronting the Taliban.

He said the rebellion started gaining momentum as time progressed, and it was realized there was trouble brewing for the Taliban, which followed the deployment move of the Taliban’s most experienced Commander Qayum Zakir to lead the fight against NRF in the Panjshir.

The recent announcement is an outcome of this deployment. They have killed at least 40 members of the NRF, including some important commanders.

From his view, Abdul said the fight is ongoing.

“The terrain is as such that complete elimination of NRF will not be possible for the Taliban. But at the same time, NRF while posing a stiff resistance to the Taliban is not in a position to pose any meaningful challenge to the Taliban beyond the area in which they are located. Which is the Panjshir Valley.”

The historical opposition of the NRF against the Taliban began in the 1990s when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. They ruled over entire Afghanistan except for 9 to 10 per cent of the area. Panjshir Valley was the centre of gravity of the anti-Taliban resistance back then.

Meanwhile, the NRF disputes the number of deaths and claims it’s much less than 40.

According to Abdul, this is a setback for a group like NRF.

“What’s needs to be understood is the NRF group primarily comprises of Tajik ethnic sections.”

He further stated that the Tajik sections have some support in the central Asian countries, particularly Tajikistan. This will enable them to receive more recruits.

Listen below to the interview with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Abdul Basit on Radio Islam’s podcast.