Consultations are underway to form a “disciplined and strong army” in near future, said Faassihuddin, Taliban’s chief of army staff in a gathering held today (Wednesday, September 15) in the capital Kabul.
He stressed on formation of an army capable of protecting Afghanistan.
Moreover, the top Taliban army official warned that they will suppress whoever stand against the group under the banners of “ethnicity”, “resistance”, supporting “democracy” or for protecting the “achievements made over past 20 years.”
Accusing the Taliban’s opposition forces of “disrupting security” and attempting to plunge the country into a “civil war”, he emphasized that the Taliban would not let them to “disrupt security” and “destroy Afghanistan.”
He did not name any specific individual or group but his warning is obviously addressed to the National Resistance Front (NRF) established by Ahmad Masoud, son of the slain mujahideen leader Ahmad Shah Masoud, in Panjshir after the fall of Kabul on August 15.
The NRF is composed of some local militias, members of former Afghan security and defense forces, and it includes as well as Amrullah Saleh, who was First Vice President to Ashraf Ghani.
The NRF commander, Ahmad Masoud, announced that they are defending the whole Afghanistan against the Taliban and started engaging in fire against the group in Pajshir and some parts of Baghlan provinces.
Earlier in September, the Taliban mobilized forces and started storming the Panjshir valley taking control of the province’s capital city, Bazarak, on September 06. In their attacks on Panjshir, the Taliban are accused of committing war crimes and the NRF has blamed the group of massacre of civilians in Bazarak.
