"If We Die ...": What Afghan Resistance Leader, Killed, Had Told NDTV

The spokesperson of the anti-Taliban resistance in Panjshir was killed in a fierce gunfight on Sunday. Just days ago, Fahim Dashty, chief spokesperson of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), had told NDTV: "If we die, history will write about us, as people who stood for their country till the end of the line".

Mr Dashty was killed during firing in Panjshir province on Sunday, according to NRFA.

Mr Dashty had refused the offer of joining the government with the Taliban, saying the forces are prepared to die to ensure a good future for the people in the war-torn country.

"If we succeed in our goals to ensure the rise of people of Afghanistan, to ensure a future for the people of the country, for our nation to establish a government, a system which will be responsive to the needs of the people of Afghanistan, legitimate in front of Afghanistan and the international community and so on and so forth," Mr Dashty told NDTV in an interview last week.

.@OnReality_Check | "If we die in the resistance, it is a win for us, history will write about us, as people who stood for their country till the end of the line," says Fahim Dashty, Official Spokesperson, National Resistance Front of #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/CDqouJcpU0

- NDTV (@ndtv) September 2, 2021

Fahim Dashty had been one of the main sources of updates from the area as the Taliban pressed in on Afghan forces, issuing a series of defiant statements on Twitter, vowing that the Resistance would continue.

The Afghan Resistance has now welcomed proposals from religious scholars for a negotiated settlement to end the fighting.

Ahmad Massoud, head of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), made the announcement on the group's Facebook page.

Fahim Dashti was a friend and a brother. He stood for free speech and his ideals and died like a hero for his homeland! pic.twitter.com/tmeIPsMTiO

— Ahmad Massoud (@Mohsood123) September 6, 2021

The development comes after reports that Taliban forces had fought their way into the provincial capital of Panjshir after securing the surrounding districts.

The Taliban took control of the rest of Afghanistan three weeks ago, taking power in Kabul on August 15 after the Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

With reports from agencies