Taliban foreign minister confirms talks with opposition in Iran

dpa Islamabad The Taliban officially confirmed on Monday that Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi staged talks with Afghan opposition leaders Ahmad Massoud ...

dpaIslamabadThe Taliban officially confirmed on Monday that Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi staged talks with Afghan opposition leaders Ahmad Massoud and Ismail Khan in Iran at the weekend.In a statement, Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that the new Afghan rulers have assured the two leaders of the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front (NRF) that they could return home without any worries.Mujahid added that their de facto government is striving to convince the population that there is no need for opposition.“I assured everyone that they can return and live in Afghanistan,” Muttaqi told reporters in Kabul. “We will not create a problem.” NRF is led by Ahmed Massoud, the son of the famous anti-Taliban guerrilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was assassinated in 2001.Following the collapse of Kabul in August, the junior Massoud left for Panjshir to fight back with the Taliban like his father, but soon the Taliban captured his home province after brief peace talks failed.Massoud and other anti-Taliban leaders went into exile in multiple countries, but mainly to Tajikistan, Turkey, and Iran. Since then, NRF militias have been active in the mountainous areas at the valley of Panjshir and the district Andarab.DemandThe anti-Taliban group is demanding the fair political participation of all ethnic groups as well as the protection of women’s rights, freedom of speech, and elections which is rejected by the Taliban so far.