Thousands of Anti-Taliban Fighters Can Return 'Anytime', Says Massoud

The Afghan resistance says it still has thousands of fighters in the Panjshir valley. (AFP)
The Afghan resistance says it still has thousands of fighters in the Panjshir valley. (AFP)
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Thousands of Anti-Taliban Fighters Can Return 'Anytime', Says Massoud

The Afghan resistance says it still has thousands of fighters in the Panjshir valley. (AFP)
The Afghan resistance says it still has thousands of fighters in the Panjshir valley. (AFP)

Thousands of fighters opposed to the Taliban can return “anytime” in the Panjshir Valley, said the uncle of a commander who led fierce battles against the extremists, appealing on Tuesday for international support for their cause.

Ahmad Wali Massoud was speaking in Switzerland, one day after the Taliban claimed total control over Afghanistan, declaring that they had won the battle against resistance forces in the mountainous Panjshir Valley, northeast of Kabul.

“We still have thousands of fighters in the valley, and any time they can come back and you will be witnessing that one,” Massoud told a symposium in Geneva.

“Yes, we have been wounded and we have been really wounded, but we have not died, we are still alive,” he added.

Massoud is brother of the late Ahmad Shah Massoud, the legendary anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban commander assassinated by al-Qaeda days before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Shah Massoud’s son, Ahmad Massoud, led resistance to the Taliban in the Panjshir Valley.

On Monday, the Taliban said they had won that battle in what was the last remaining holdout against their rule. They released a video of their flag being raised over the governor’s house in Panjshir.

“Panjshir is not only resistance, (it) is a cause, an international cause,” Massoud told the symposium.

“We are resisting for our own right, for the freedom, for democracy, for the human rights...”

“Probably this is the last opportunity that we can see to really fight terrorism inside Afghanistan,” he added.

“That’s why we should not lose the resistance.”

The National Resistance Front (NRF) in Panjshir -- made up of anti-Taliban militia and former Afghan security forces -- on Sunday acknowledged suffering major battlefield losses and called for a ceasefire.

But on Monday the group said in a tweet that its fighters were still present in “strategic positions” in the valley.



27 Inmates are Still at Large Following an Israeli Airstrike during the 12-day War, Iran says

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
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27 Inmates are Still at Large Following an Israeli Airstrike during the 12-day War, Iran says

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)
In this photo taken Tuesday, June 24, 2025, rescuers search through the rubble of a damaged section of Evin Prison following an Israeli strike the day before, in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Mostafa Roudaki/Mizan News Agency)

Iran said Tuesday 27 inmates were still at large after an Israeli airstrike last month targeted Evin prison in the north of the capital, Tehran, local media reported.

The airstrikes were part of Israel’s 12-day bombardment of Iran that killed about 1,100 people. while 28 were left dead in Israel in Iranian retaliatory strikes, The Associated Press said.

Judiciary’s news website, Mizanonline, quoted spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying 75 prisoners had escaped following the strike, of which 48 were either recaptured or voluntarily returned. He said authorities will detain the others if they don't hand themselves over.

Jahangir said the escapees were prisoners doing time for minor offenses.

Iranian officials said the Israeli strike killed 71 people, but local media reported earlier in July that 80 were left dead at the time, including prison staff, soldiers, inmates and visiting family members. Authorities also said five inmates died.

It’s unclear why Israel targeted the prison. The Israeli Defense Ministry had said that 50 aircraft dropped 100 munitions on military targets “based on high-quality and accurate intelligence from the Intelligence Branch.”

The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison, seen as a symbol of repression of any opposition, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets.