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On Sunday, Reuters reported that Ahmad Massoud, the Anti-Taliban leader, said he is hoping to negotiate with the Taliban. The Taliban seized power in Kabul last week. Massoud adds that he has an army that is ready to fight.

Massoud is the son of the late Ahmad Shah Massoud. His father led the fight against the Soviets who invaded Afghanistan in 1979-1989.

Massoud is following in his father's footsteps. And he is becoming a hero for the Afghan people.

Panjshir, the Anti-Taliban stronghold is still dotted with wreckage of Soviet armored vehicles.  The Russians discovered in the 1980s that Panjshir has been historically difficult to defeat. But international observers question whether Massoud's forces will be able to win without outside support. Massoud is asking the US specifically for weapons to defeat the invaders.

Tell the World we are fighting back

The younger Massoud is currently gathering his forces in the Panjshir valley northwest of Kabul. His army is made up of local militia and the remnants of the Afghan army. But new fighters are joining, hoping to stop the expected purge.

We want to make the Taliban realize that the only way forward is through negotiation," he said in a telephone interview. "We do not want a war to break out."

It has been confirmed that anti-Taliban forces took back three districts in the northern province of Baghlan. The area borders Panjshir where Massoud says the Afghan army is growing in strength. 

The operation was reportedly carried out by local militia groups who were reacting to the Taliban’s "brutality." 

Massoud called for an inclusive, broad-based government in Kabul representing all of Afghanistan's different ethnic groups and said a "totalitarian regime" should not be recognized by the international community.

He says his army is committed. "They want to defend, they want to fight, they want to resist against any totalitarian regime."

The Taliban moves closer

Meanwhile, on Twitter, the Taliban's Alemarah claims hundreds of fighters were heading towards Panjshir. And were invading "after local state officials refused to hand it over peacefully". A video showed a column of captured trucks flying the Taliban flag moving along a highway. But it is uncertain where and when the video was taken.

The Taliban are insisting an offensive has been launched on Panjshir. But Massoud claims there are no signs that the Taliban are in the valley and there are no reports of fighting.

Anti-Taliban Opposition grows

Massoud claims his forces, numbering more than 6,000, are growing daily. And they are coming from all over the embattled country. Panjshir is a region of Persian-speaking Tajiks that has long been at war with the Pashtuns who are the core of the extremist Taliban movement.

"There are many other people from many other provinces who are seeking refuge in the Panjshir valley who are standing with us and who do not want to accept another identity for Afghanistan," he said.