Guerrilla Warfare: No present talks with Taliban, Afghanistan’s Massoud says, promising guerrilla warfare

PARIS: There are not any talks with the Taliban to barter a peace settlement, Afghan anti-Taliban chief Ahmad Massoud mentioned on Thursday, vowing to step up “guerrilla warfare” to deliver the hardline Islamists to the negotiating desk.
Talking in an interview in Paris, Massoud, the exiled chief of the Nationwide Resistance Entrance of Afghanistan (NRF), mentioned that the one method for the Taliban to realize legitimacy can be to carry elections, however there was no prospect of that taking place for now.
“The Taliban are refusing any talks of negotiation and so they simply need the world and the individuals of Afghanistan to simply settle for that that is the one method going ahead, which it’s not,” mentioned Massoud, son of the previous anti-Soviet mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, mentioned late on Thursday.
The NRF teams opposition forces loyal to Massoud. It opposed the Taliban takeover and clashes have occurred since August 2021 between the 2 sides within the resistance motion’s stronghold of Panjshir, north of the capital Kabul.
Massoud, who operates from abroad, mentioned the NRF had been compelled to alter techniques as a result of it couldn’t battle the well-equipped Taliban conventionally.
“We selected final 12 months a extra pragmatic strategy and that’s guerrilla warfare. That’s the reason you see much less of us however extra affect,” he mentioned, including that the variety of fighters had grown from 1,200 to 4,000.
The 34-year-old, who was in Paris to launch a brand new e-book, mentioned his fighters weren’t receiving any navy help, however have been counting on shares from the many years of conflict within the nation and wanted ammunition.
“It is sufficient to be a headache for the Taliban, however to not topple them or to create an excessive amount of ache for them so they arrive for correct, significant talks. So, that is the factor the world should perceive,” he mentioned.
Massoud dismissed any suggestion of returning to Afghanistan as a part of a Taliban reintegration scheme of former officers.
“These individuals who left Afghanistan, they left for extra than simply home or a automotive. They left for noble causes. They left for some rules,” he mentioned.
“If the Taliban introduced that they settle for elections, at this time all of us can return as a result of that is what we wish.”
The latest elections in Afghanistan have been held below the U.S.-backed administration which Taliban deposed in August 2021 when Western troops withdrew. The Taliban dissolved the nation’s elections fee in December 2021.
Many Western governments don’t formally recognise the Taliban administration, notably over its therapy of girls within the nation. However there may be little stress or need to as soon as once more become involved within the nation with their focus totally on the conflict in Ukraine.
“We attempt to inform the West that perhaps you are busy with Ukraine, however on the identical time, you should take note of the state of affairs in Afghanistan as a result of the state of affairs in Afghanistan is a ticking bomb,” Massoud mentioned.