The Taliban announced on Monday (September 6) that they had defeated opposition forces in the Panjshir Valley in the northeast of Kabul, and completed their takeover of the country after the shocking occupation of Kabul and the chaotic withdrawal of foreign troops last month.
Photos on social media showed that Taliban members stood in front of the gate of Governor Panjshir’s residence after fighting with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA) led by Panjshir leader Ahmed Masood over the weekend.
“Panjshir Province is completely in the hands of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” Islamic militant group spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet on Monday, adding that some enemy fighters were killed in the fighting and others People have fled.
“With this victory and the latest efforts, our country has stepped out of the vortex of war, and our people will live a happy life of peace, freedom and freedom throughout the country.”
The Taliban assured the people of Panjshir, who were ethnically different from the Pashtun-dominated Taliban and fought Islamists during the 1996-2001 rule, that there would be no “discrimination against them”.
Mujahid said: “They are our brothers and will work together for the common goals and well-being of the country.”
Masood did not immediately release any news. He led a force composed of remnants of the Afghan regular army and special forces, as well as local militias.
Ali Maisam Nazary, NRFA’s head of external relations, said that the Taliban’s claimed victory was wrong and the opposition forces continued to fight.
“NRF troops appeared in all strategic locations in the valley to continue fighting,” he said on his Facebook page.
The Taliban said earlier that their troops had entered the provincial capital Bazarak and seized a large number of weapons and ammunition.
Because of the fierce fighting in the valley on Sunday, Masood said he welcomes the negotiated solution proposed by religious scholars. After the conflict broke out about two weeks ago, the two sides made several negotiation attempts, but they eventually broke down, and both sides blamed the other for the failure.
Three weeks ago, the Taliban took control of other parts of Afghanistan and took power in Kabul on August 15 after the collapse of the Western-backed government and the escape of President Ashraf Ghani from the country.
Panjshir is the last pocket of armed resistance to the Taliban. It has a history of being difficult for the enemy to occupy. The rugged valley is still littered with the remains of tanks destroyed in the 1980s during the prolonged war with the Soviet Union.
NRFA said on Sunday that its main spokesperson, Fahim Dashti, had been killed in the fighting.
On September 9, 2001, a few days before the September 11 attack on the United States, Dashti survived the suicide attack that led to the death of Masoud’s father, Ahmad Shah Massoud Come down.
The Panjshir battle has always been the most prominent example of resistance to the Taliban.
However, small, isolated protests have also been held in different cities to fight for women’s rights or defend the green, red and black flags of the conquered Republic of Afghanistan.
The Taliban had imposed violent punishments when they were in power, banning women and older girls from going to school and working, but this time they tried to show a more gentle face.
