The Taliban may announce their government within the next 24 hours, top sources in the militant group told CNN-News18. The development comes after the group claim to have taken control of Panjshir, along with reports indicating that deposed Vice President Amrullah Saleh has fled to Tajikistan. However, Ahmad Massoud, one of the leaders of the National Resistance Force (NRF), says Panjshir is continuing its fight. LIVE: Amrullah Saleh Fled to Tajikistan, Say Taliban; Ahmad Massoud Says Panjshir ?Still Fighting?
Taliban sources said that ?after the takeover of Panjshir? they were ready with appointments and designations of all leaders of the group set to form the new government, adding that the list of appointments was expected soon.
Talking about any possible infighting within the Taliban amid government-formation, the sources said ?there were no differences but propaganda by anti-Taliban groups?.
Taliban Claim Total Control
The Taliban on Monday claimed total control over Afghanistan as they said they had won the key battle for the Panjshir Valley, the last remaining holdout of resistance against their rule.
CNN-News18 had earlier reported that several top commanders of the Resistance Force, including spokesperson Fahim Dashti and others like Gul Haider Khan, Munib Amiri and Wadood, a nephew of Ahmad Shah Massoud, have been killed. Dashti was a spokesman of the Resistance Front, a senior member of the Jamiat-e-Islami party and a member of the Federation of Afghan Journalists.
Following their lightning-fast victory in mid-August over the former Afghan government?s security forces and the withdrawal of US troops after 20 years of war, the Taliban had turned to fight the forces defending the mountainous Panjshir Valley.
In Pics | Taliban Claims Complete Control Over Panjshir, Resistance Forces Vow to Carry on Fighting
As the Islamist hardliners claimed victory, their chief spokesman warned against any further attempts to rise up against their rule, while he also urged former members of the security forces to join their regime?s ranks. ?With this victory, our country is completely taken out of the quagmire of war,? chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a press conference in Kabul.
?The Islamic Emirate is very sensitive about insurgencies. Anyone who tries to start an insurgency will be hit hard. We will not allow another,? he added. An image posted on social media by the Taliban showed its fighters at the governor?s office of Panjshir province ? the site of resistance to Soviet forces in the 1980s and the Taliban in the late 1990s.
?Shura? to Lead Country as Some Get Raw Deals
According to our earlier report, a ‘Shura’ or Religious Council will control and run the executive powers of the nation, top Taliban had said. This ‘Shura’ will comprise of Taliban elders and other ethnic groups, and women will not be a part of this Council, the sources said. The executives of this Council will lead the government and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is likely to head the political office, the Taliban sources had said, adding that 80 per cent of this government will be from the Doha Taliban team.
For the country’s foreign ministry, the militants are considering Sher Abbas Stanakzai, because of his reach and access to the international world. Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah are unlikely to get space in the Shura but they will remain in some advisory role, the sources said.
Other groups like the deadly Haqqani network will get 50% stake in this government, and warlord turned politician Gulbuddin Hekmatyar will also be part of this governing body, but in the second or third layer, the sources had said.
Ahmad Massoud Calls for ?National Uprising?
Meanwhile, Ahmad Massoud, son of late legendary anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, has called on people across Afghanistan to rise up in a ?national uprising against the Taliban?.
Massoud, who has been leading the efforts in the Resistance against the insurgents from Panjshir with deposed Vice President Amrullah Saleh, said in a voice message on his Facebook page, that they would stand and fight the militant group.
The NRF had on Sunday called for a peaceful resolution to the fight yesterday, amid a persisting humanitarian crisis in the valley, where the Taliban had cut off the internet and other essential supplies in an effort to isolate them. The leader in his audio message has said resistance forces are still present in Panjshir and continue to fight Taliban.
?Wherever you are, inside or outside, I call on you to begin a national uprising for the dignity, freedom and prosperity of our country,? he said.
With inputs from Agence France-Presse.
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