Afghanistan News highlights: Ahmad Massoud, head of the National Resistance Front, calls for a national uprising against Taliban

The Taliban said on Monday they have taken control of Panjshir province north of Kabul, the Afghan capital. The province was the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in the country and the only province the Taliban had not seized during their sweep last month. However, the anti-Taliban resistance force in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley denied that Panjshir had fallen to the hardline Islamist group and vowed to carry on fighting.

No Afghan will be asked to leave India without MHA's approval: Officials

As the situation in Afghanistan continues to be uncertain, the Union Home Ministry has said that no Afghan national living in India will be asked to leave the country without its approval, according to officials.

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Afghan soil should not be source of terrorism for other countries: Russia

The Afghan soil should not be a source of spreading terrorism in other countries of the region and both Russia and India have "common concerns" over it in the backdrop of the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, Russian Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev said on Monday.

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Taliban claim total control over Afghanistan

The Taliban on Monday claimed total control over Afghanistan, saying they had won the key battle for the Panjshir Valley, the last remaining holdout of resistance against their rule.

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Taliban spokesman confirms meeting between Pakistan's ISI chief and Mullah Baradar

The Taliban on Monday confirmed that Pakistan's powerful intelligence chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has met its de-facto leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, amidst efforts by the insurgent group to finalise a government in Afghanistan.

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Ahmad Massoud, the head of the National Resistance Front calls for a national uprising against the Taliban. This comes us the Taliban announced an end to war in Afghanistan as they claim a victory in Panjshir. (Khaama Press)

Taliban provincial governor vows to fight Islamic State

As a Taliban commander, he spent years battling the former Afghan government. Now, with his hardline movement back in power, Mullah Neda Mohammad vows to continue fighting against rival jihadists, the Islamic State (IS) group.

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Any insurgency will be hit hard, says Taliban spokesperson

The Taliban on Monday said that any insurgency against their rule would be "hit hard", after earlier saying they had captured the Panjshir Valley -- the last pocket of resistance.

"The Islamic Emirate is very sensitive about insurgencies. Anyone who tries to start an insurgency will be hit hard. We will not allow another," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a press conference. (AFP)

Taliban spokesperson says new Afghanistan government will be announced soon

A spokesperson for the Taliban said on Monday that a new Afghan government would be announced soon, but he did not specify when.

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Ahmad Massoud himself has entered the battlefield: Reports

Taliban remove street murals and repaints walls in Kabul

Mujahid: An Islamic and accountable government will soon be formed

Zabihullah Mujahid said at a news conference in Kabul that the war in the country has ended and they hope to become a stable country after Afghanistan.

Iran 'strongly' condemns Taliban assault on Panjshir Valley

Taliban spokesman says any insurgency 'will be hit hard'

The Taliban on Monday said that any insurgency against their rule would be "hit hard", after earlier saying they had captured the Panjshir Valley -- the last pocket of resistance.

"The Islamic Emirate is very sensitive about insurgencies. Anyone who tries to start an insurgency will be hit hard. We will not allow another," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a press conference.

Taliban spokesman says government will be announced soon, 'some technical things left'

He rejects talk that government announcement has been delayed due to disagreements

Taliban spokesman says movement's supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada will come into public view soon

Technical teams from Qatar and Turkey, as well as a UAE company, are working on repairing Hamid Karzai International Airport and to normalize flights at the airport: Taliban spokesperson

Taliban takeover brings sales boom for Afghan arms dealers

The Taliban for years procured weapons and ammunition from the black market. They also captured arms and equipment from the battlefield and abandoned military posts, according to UN and Western monitors.

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India has no option but to wait and watch, avoid knee-jerk reaction: Ex-diplomats on Afghanistan

On what should be India's approach, the former diplomat told PTI that India should not rush into anything, take time and see the direction in which things are moving as Afghanistan's internal politics will shape the developments.

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'Everyone got it wrong on Taliban's lightning takeover of Afghanistan'

The US and other countries were caught off-guard by the Taliban's lightning conquest of Afghanistan last month and the strikingly rapid fall of the Afghan military and government backed by the West once NATO troops left the country.

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Taliban order university women to wear face-covering niqab

In a lengthy document issued by the Taliban's education authority, they also ordered that female students should only be taught by other women, but if that was not possible then "old men" of good character could fill in.

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Fight against Taliban in Panjshir Valley 'will continue': National Resistance Front

The National Resistance Front said it was present in "strategic positions" across the valley, adding "the struggle against the Taliban and their partners will continue".

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Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar hurt in clash with Anas Haqqani: Reports

Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was said to be injured after a clash with the outfit's ally, Haqqani Network, late Friday, prompting Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed to make an emergency trip to Kabul to troubleshoot the situation, according to multiple reports."

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"We fully assure the honorable people of #Panjshir that they will not be discriminated against, they are all our brothers and we will serve a common country and a common goal" Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said

With this conquest and recent efforts, our country has completely emerged from the vortex of war and our people will live a peaceful and peaceful life in an atmosphere of freedom, independence and abadi: Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid

Taliban’s claim of occupying Panjshir is false. The NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight: NRF

Taliban’s claim of occupying Panjshir is false. The NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight. We assure the people of Afghanistan that the struggle against the Taliban & their partners will continue until justice & freedom prevails: NRF

"We fully assure the honorable people of Panjshir that they will not be discriminated against, they are all our brothers and we will serve a common country and a common goal" Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid

Social media flooded with images of Taliban raising flags in Panjshir

Reports claim Afghan VP Amrullah Saleh fled to Tajikistan before the Taliban's last siege

The last anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan have acknowledged suffering major battlefield losses and called for a ceasefire: AFP

Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that they have captured Panjshir, the last province of Afghanistan.

Members of National Resistance Front overlook Golbahar, Kapisa, Afghanistan in this still image obtained from an undated video handout. (Credit: NRF handout via Reuters)

Reports suggest, Fahim Dashti, an NRF spokesperson and an aide of Ahmad Massoud, was killed in the clashes between resistance forces and Taliban. Dashti was also a journalist.

Taliban accused of killing pregnant police officer: Report

Taliban militants in Afghanistan have shot dead a policewoman in a provincial city, witnesses have told the BBC.However, the hardline Islamist group said that it was not involved in it and are investigating,

"The NRF fully supports the call of the clerics to lift the sanctions imposed on Panjshir and hopes that the Taliban group will take this Islamic and humanitarian demand seriously and implement it": Read the full statement by the NRF for ceasefire

The NRF fully supports the call of the clerics to lift the sanctions imposed on Panjshir and hopes that the Taliban group will take this Islamic and humanitarian demand seriously and implement it.
The people of Afghanistan are overwhelmingly Muslim. The struggles and sacrifices of the people of Panjshir, Andarab, Parwan, Kapisa, and other provinces and regions of Afghanistan over the past forty years have been to establish a true Islamic system. Therefore, there is no religious, human, or rational reason for the Taliban attack under the pretext of fighting to install the Islamic system in Panjshir, Andarab, Parwan, Kapisa or other parts of Afghanistan. The word of God is prevalent, and the call for prayer is recited every day through all mosques. The people stand firmly in their performance of their religious duties and rituals.
The NRF proposes that the Taliban stop its military operations in Panjshir, Andarab, Parwan, and Kapisa and withdraw its forces from Panjshir and Andarab. In return, we will direct our forces to refrain from military action.

Taliban orders women attending university to wear an abaya robe and niqab covering most of the face, and classes must be segregated by sex -- or at least divided by a curtain

Panjshir resistance calls for ceasefire, Taliban withdrawal: statement

Taliban say UN promises aid after meeting with officials in Kabul

Senior Taliban officials met in Kabul on Sunday with the UNundersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, who promised to maintain assistance for the Afghan people, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the Taliban's political office and other officials met Martin Griffiths as Afghanistan faces a potentially catastrophic humanitarian crisis caused by severe drought and a collapsing economy. (Reuters)

UK PM Johnson to address lawmakers about Afghanistan on Monday

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address lawmakers on Monday about Britain's withdrawal from Afghanistan, amid criticism of the handling of the evacuation and failure to predict how quickly the Taliban would sweep through the country.

The United States and Britain withdrew from Afghanistan last month, and Johnson's foreign minister Dominic Raab has admitted that both countries misjudged the Taliban's capacity to seize control. The Taliban took Kabul on Aug. 15. (Reuters)

Some 1,000 people awaiting Taliban flight clearance from Mazar-i-Sharif

About 1,000 people, including dozens of Americans and Afghans holding visas for the United States or other countries, remained stuck in Afghanistan for a fifth day on Sunday while awaiting Taliban clearance for flights out of the country, the New York Times reported.

The newspaper reported that the situation facing those hoping to leave from the international airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif mirrored that of thousands who were unable to board flights from Kabul after the Taliban took the capital before UStroops withdrew. (Reuters)