Panjshir Resistance Leader Ready to Step Down If Taliban Guarantees Freedom in Afghanistan

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The leader of the resistance in the Afghan province of Panjshir, Ahmad Massoud has told Foreign Policy magazine he would give up his struggle if the Taliban* forms an inclusive government and guarantees equal rights for all Afghans.

"If the Taliban are willing to share power with everyone and are willing to establish justice and to give equal rights and freedom to all of Afghanistan, then I will step down and quit politics", Massoud said in an interview, published on 30 August.

The National Resistance Front does not receive any foreign financial support, the leader added, noting that many countries in the region took the Taliban's side.

"The government [of ex-President Ashraf Ghani] drove many regional countries to the side of the Taliban. From its ethnic-nationalist rhetoric to its water policies, it provoked and antagonised our neighbours, and they grew closer to the Taliban", he stated.

On 15 August, the Taliban took over Kabul, gaining control of almost all of Afghanistan and causing the civilian government to collapse. Panjshir, located northeast of Kabul, remains the only province that has not fallen to the Taliban.

*The Taliban is a terrorist organisation outlawed in Russia and many other states.