Panjshir resistance leader says ready for talks with Taliban

Ahmad Massoud, head of NRF, says he welcomes proposals for a negotiated settlement to end fighting in Panjshir Valley.

The leader of the Afghan opposition group resisting Taliban forces in the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul has said he welcomed proposals from religious scholars for a negotiated settlement to end the fighting. Ahmad Massoud, head of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), made the announcement on the group’s Facebook page on Sunday. Earlier, Taliban forces said they had fought their way into the provincial capital of Panjshir after securing the surrounding districts. The Taliban took control of the rest of Afghanistan three weeks ago, taking power in Kabul on August 15 after the Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.