Panjshir resistance calls for ceasefire, Taliban withdrawal

Resistance forces holed up in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley against the Taliban have called for a ceasefire, a statement from their leaders said, after reports they had suffered heavy losses at the weekend.

The National Resistance Front (NRF) said late Sunday it "proposes that the Taliban stop its military operations in Panjshir... and withdraw its forces. In return, we will direct our forces to refrain from military action."

In a separate tweet late Sunday, the NRF said spokesman Fahim Dashty -- a well-known Afghan journalist -- and General Abdul Wudod Zara had been killed in the latest fighting.

The Taliban completed a stunning two-week offensive across Afghanistan on August 15 by taking the capital, Kabul, without a fight.

But remnants of the Afghan army retreated to the Panjshir Valley to form up with the NRF.

The Taliban claimed late Sunday to have captured almost the entire valley, but pro-NRF social media accounts denied this and said resistance fighters had retreated to the highlands.

Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the resistance forces in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Panjshir, on Sunday said resistance forces are ready to cease fighting and start negotiations if the Taliban leave the province, Sputnik reported on Sunday.

"The national resistance forces are ready to immediately stop the war to achieve a lasting peace if the Taliban cease their attacks and military operations in Panjshir and Andarab, and hope to hold a large meeting with scholars and reformers, and continue discussions and talks," Massoud said in a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday.

Further, Ahmad Massoud added that the National Resistance Front suggests that the Taliban halt its military operations in Panjshir, Andarab, Parwan and Kapisa and withdraw its forces from Panjshir and Andarab. The National Resistance Front, on the other hand, will direct its forces to refrain from military action.