Lavrov: Resistance against the Taliban is forming in the Punjir Valley in Afghanistan – PRAVDA.sk

Resistance against the Taliban is being formed in Afghanistan’s Punjir Valley, led by former Vice President Amrullah Salih and Ahmad Masud, son of a well-known Taliban fighter. This was announced on Thursday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Pictured in May 2019, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) during a meeting with a Taliban delegation and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai (center) in Moscow.

“The Taliban does not control the entire territory of Afghanistan – there are reports of a situation in the Punjir Valley, where the resistance of Afghanistan’s Vice President Salih and Ahmad Masoud is concentrated,” Lavrov said.

The head of Russian diplomacy reiterated his call for political dialogue involving all the “players” involved in order to form a government in the country.

The valley is the last bastion of resistance against the Taliban. According to images on social networks, Sálih and Masúd form a partisan movement in this area in order to fight the Taliban.

Moscow is so far slightly optimistic about the situation in Afghanistan, with Kremlin officials establishing contacts with the Taliban in an effort to prevent destabilization of the region. While the United States and its Western allies are evacuating citizens from the troubled country, the Russian embassy in Kabul is still functioning. Russia’s ambassador to Kabul, Dmitry Zhirnov, even met with the Taliban. He later declared on Afghan state television that it was a “positive and constructive” meeting.

Read more Borrell: The situation in Afghanistan is the top geopolitical event since the annexation of Crimea