KABUL: The Taliban said Monday their fighters had surrounded resistance forces holed up in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley but were looking to negotiate rather than take the fight to them.
The announcement follows scattered reports of clashes overnight, with pro-Taliban social media accounts claiming gunmen were massing, and Afghanistan’s former vice president saying resistance forces were holding strong.
Taliban fighters “are stationed near Panjshir,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted, saying they had the area surrounded on three sides.
“The Islamic Emirate is trying to resolve this issue peacefully,” he added.
Pro-resistance accounts on social media had dismissed earlier claims of being pushed back, saying Taliban fighters had been ambushed and routed.
Claims from either side were impossible to independently verify from a remote mountainous region that is largely inaccessible.
Panjshir — famous for its natural defenses never penetrated by Soviet forces or the Taliban in earlier conflicts — remains the last major holdout of anti-Taliban forces led by Ahmad Massoud, son of the famed Mujahideen leader Ahmed Shah Massoud.
Former Afghan vice president Amrullah Saleh is also there, and photos posted on social media in recent days have shown him in talks with Massoud.
The valley is guarded by a narrow gorge, making entry — or escape — extraordinarily difficult for outsiders, who can be picked off by entrenched forces positioned on higher ground.
A spokesman for Massoud’s anti-Taliban National Resistance Front told AFP at the weekend that the group was prepared for “long-term conflict,” but would prefer to negotiate for an inclusive government.
“The conditions for a peace deal with the Taliban are decentralization, a system that ensures social justice, equality, rights, and freedom for all,” spokesman Ali Maisam Nazary told AFP.
Following the collapse of the US-backed government last week, the Taliban are consolidating their control over the country and holding a series of meetings with old foes — including opposition politicians and warlords.
Taliban say Afghan resistance force ‘besieged’ in Panjshir Valley
https://arab.news/8n5b7
Taliban say Afghan resistance force ‘besieged’ in Panjshir Valley
- Panjshir — famous for its natural defenses never penetrated by Soviet forces or the Taliban in earlier conflicts — remains the last major holdout of anti-Taliban forces led by Ahmad Massoud
- The valley is guarded by a narrow gorge, making entry — or escape — extraordinarily difficult for outsiders, who can be picked off by entrenched forces positioned on higher ground
US Justice Department official eyes cases against Cuba leaders as Trump floats ‘friendly takeover’
- “Working group” formed to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government
- Trump’s has increasingly displayed aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership
MIAMI: The top Justice Department prosecutor in Miami is considering criminal investigations of Cuban government officials, according to people familiar with the matter. The inquiry comes as President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of the communist-run island.
Jason Reding Quiñones, the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has created a “working group” that includes federal prosecutors and officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to try to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government and its Communist Party, according to one of the people. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the effort.
It was not immediately clear which Cuban officials the office is targeting or what criminal charges prosecutors may be looking to bring.
The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that “federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime.”
The effort is taking place against the backdrop of Trump’s increasingly aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership.
Emboldened by the US capture of Cuba’s close ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump last month said his administration was in high-level talks with officials in Havana to pursue “a friendly takeover” of the country. He repeated those claims this week, saying his attention would turn back to Cuba once the war with Iran winds down.
“They want to make a deal so bad,” Trump said of Cuba’s leadership.
While Cuba has faded from Washington’s radar as a major national security threat in recent decades, it remains a priority in the US Attorney’s office in Miami, whose political, economic and cultural life is dominated by Cuban-American exiles.
The FBI field office has a dedicated Cuba group that in 2024 was instrumental in the arrest of former US Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha on charges of serving as a secret agent of Cuba stretching back to the 1970s.
In recent weeks, several Miami Republicans, in addition to Florida Sen. Rick Scott, have called on the Trump administration to reopen its criminal investigation into the 1996 shootdown of four planes operated by anti-communist exiles.
In a letter to Trump on Feb. 13, lawmakers including Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez highlighted decades-old news reports indicating that former President Raúl Castro — the head of Cuba’s military at the time — gave the order to shoot down the unarmed Cessna aircraft.
“We believe unequivocally that Raúl Castro is responsible for this heinous crime,” lawmakers wrote. “It is time for him to be brought to justice.”
While no indictment against Castro has been announced, Florida’s attorney general said this week that he would open a state-level investigation into the crime.
The Trump administration has also accused Cuba of not cooperating with American counterterrorism efforts, adding it alongside North Korea and Iran to a select few nations the US considers state sponsors of terrorism.
The designation stems from Cuba’s harboring of US fugitives and its refusal to extradite several Colombian rebel leaders while they were engaged in peace talks with the South American nation.
