Explained: Who is anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Massoud

NEW DELHI: As hundreds of Taliban fighters move to take control of resistance stronghold Panjshir valley in north-central Afghanistan, the anti-Taliban leader who has said "war will be unavoidable if Taliban refuse dialogue" is Ahmad Massoud.
Ahmad Massoud is the leader of Afghanistan's last major outpost of anti-Taliban resistance,
Massoud hopes for peaceful talks with the extremist group, but has clearly stated that he will be ready to fight back if the Taliban tries to seize control of his territory.
His statement to a Dubai-based TV channel came, after a Twitter video showed a column of captured trucks with the white Taliban flag but still bearing their government markings moving along a highway, as Taliban moved towards Panjshir valley.
He is the son of Ahmad Shah Masooud, who was one of the main leaders of Afghanistan's anti-Soviet resistance in the 1980s.
"We confronted the Soviet Union, and we will be able to confront the Taliban," Ahmad Massoud told the Dubai-based TV channel.
The Taliban had told Massoud he had four hours to give up Panjshir valley, the 32-year-old and Vice President of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh are holed up.
Massoud has called for an inclusive, broad-based government in Kabul representing all of Afghanistan's different ethnic groups.
He said a "totalitarian regime" should not be recognised by the international community and that "negotiation was the only way forward" to maintain peace in the region.
The anti-Taliban fighter said in his statement that members of the Afghan military had rallied to his cause ahead of the Taliban's seizure of the country.
"We have stores of ammunition and arms that we have patiently collected since my father's time," he said, adding that some of the forces who had joined him had brought their weapons.
Massoud's father was killed just days before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US by al-Qaeda terrorists who enjoyed Afghan sanctuary under Taliban rule.
"If Taliban warlords launch an assault, they will of course face staunch resistance from us," he added.