Word: panjshir
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...what is widely considered the country's most effective guerrilla formation. Last May Massoud's men, who owe allegiance to Jamiat-i-Islami, one of the seven mujahedin parties based across the border in Pakistan, watched in triumph as the last Soviet and Afghan government troops retreated from the Panjshir...
After nine years of fighting, mujahedin can drive their few vehicles through the valley in daylight with little worry of attack. The government withdrawal from the Panjshir has prompted hopes in Kabul that Massoud might be coaxed into a cease-fire or even a coalition. According to Massoud, President Najibullah has even offered him a choice of top government posts in exchange for peace...
...walled farmhouse three days' ride from the Panjshir Valley, Massoud is asked if he would consider dealing with Najibullah. Amid interruptions from aides bringing intelligence reports scribbled on scraps of paper, the guerrilla chief declares, "There is no possibility of coexistence with the Communists...
During the current pause, the Panjshir is alive with conflicting evidence of a coming peace and continued war. Substantial numbers of refugees, some from as far away as Pakistan, are returning to their homes in villages along the valley. The Council of the North, a local body organized by Massoud, continues ; to set up schools and clinics and to broaden basic administration for the region...
...strategy and the internal politicking with Massoud, the leader of Jamiat-i-Islami, Burhanuddin Rabbani, 53, in September made his first trip to Afghanistan's northeast since the war began. Accompanied by an escort equipped with Stinger missiles, the former Kabul University theology professor met with Jamiat commanders in Panjshir's bomb-scarred villages. Rabbani told TIME that he thought it unlikely that elections could be held soon after Kabul falls. "It is important to establish a government on the basis of the vote of the common people of Afghanistan," he said in a bow to principle, "but under these...