The Taliban said "hundreds' of fighters are heading to the Panjshir valley after talks with leaders of the resistance broke down on Sunday. "Hundreds of Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate are heading towards the state of Panjshir to control it, after local state officials refused to hand it over peacefully," the group wrote on its Arabic Twitter account.

In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, former Afghan minister Masoud Andarabi said in the long term, the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan will have implications on the international community. "The Taliban grow on fear and radical Islamists and they have very close ties with international terror outfits such as Al-Qaeda. That's how they managed to get to power today -- the suicide attack, the brutality," he said.