Ahmad Massoud has not left Afghanistan, claims source

Panjshir - Audio message decries rumours that the Panjshir leader has fled to Turkey

Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the Afghan resistance forces, has not left Afghanistan, a source reported on Saturday.

According to the source, rumours about Massoud leaving the Central Asian country for Turkey or any other place are false. The resistance leader is said to be in a safe place and in contacting with the Panjshir Valley.

The source also said that 70 per cent of main streets in Panjshir have been brought under control by the Taliban.

Taliban has claimed that they have captured the Afghan province of Panjshir, the last resistance stronghold in the country. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front (NRF) has denied the claim.

“In recent days, the Taliban entered Panjshir and now 70 per cent of the main streets and passages are under their control, but the valleys of Panjshir are still under the complete control of the popular forces,” Qassem Mohammadi told FNA.

The NRF said that the resistance forces are present at all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight.

After the fall of Kabul on August 15, Panjshir province remained the only defiant holdout where resistance forces led by Ahmad Masoud, the son of late former Afghan guerrilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, were fighting the Taliban.

Panjshir was the last Afghan province holding out against the armed group that swept to power last month. Taliban has been facing stiff resistance after pushing deep into the country’s holdout in Panjshir Valley.