Taliban Says Panjshir ‘Completely Captured’; National Resistance Front Denies
The Front’s leaders said that the resistance forces are present at all strategic positions across the Panjshir Valley to continue the fight.
They further assured the people of Afghanistan that the struggle against the Taliban and their partners will continue until justice and freedom prevails.
Panjshir, the north-eastern valley of Afghanistan that had remained free of Taliban control so far, has been “completely captured” by it, the militant organisation said on Monday, 6 September.
Pictures on social media showed Taliban members standing in front of the gate of the Panjshir provincial governor’s compound after fighting over the weekend with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), led by Panjshiri leader Ahmad Massoud.
While the forces have been clashing sporadically for the past two weeks, an intense clash between the Taliban and the Resistance Front has been continuing for the last four days.
On Thursday night, the fight escalated prompting former president Hamid Karzai to appeal to both the warring sides to stop clashing as more bloodshed is not of any service to Afghanistan and Afghan people.
Fight against Taliban will continue
Taliban’s claim of occupying Panjshir is false. The NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight. We assure the people of Afghanistan that the struggle against the Taliban & their partners will continue until justice & freedom prevails,” the group said.
This comes hours after Panjshir resistance spokesperson Fahim Dashti was reported dead in a clash with the Taliban on Sunday.
After the fall of Kabul on August 15, Panjshir province remained the only defiant holdout where resistance forces led by Ahamd Masoud. The son of late former Afghan guerrilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, were fighting the Taliban.
The geography has witnessed heavy conflict between the warring sides in the past four days. And both parties are claiming to have inflicted heavy casualties.
Panjshir has been the stronghold of the National Resistance Front, led by Ahmad Massoud and former Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who declared himself caretaker president.
Amrullah Saleh too corroborated al-Qaida’s presence and said Panjshir is under invasion of Taliban and Pakistanis and al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
The Taliban have blocked humanitarian services including medicine in the valley, the former vice president earlier tweeted. He also alleged that innocent people of Panjshir were to forced by the Taliban to walk on minefields in the mountain.