News / Afghanistan

Taliban attack resistance hub of Panjshir, 7 militants killed

Tuesday, 31 August 2021 6:10 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 31 August 2021 6:17 PM ]

A handout photo shows National Resistance Forces posing for a photo in Panjshir, Afghanistan, on August 22, 2021. (Via Reuters)

At least seven Taliban members have reportedly been killed and several others wounded in clashes with resistance militia fighters in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, north of the capital, Kabul.

The casualties were reported by two members of the anti-Taliban opposition group of the National Resistance Forces (NRF) in Panjshir Valley on Tuesday.

Fahim Dashti, a spokesman for the group who is loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud, said the clashes occurred on the western entrance to the valley, where the Taliban attacked NRF positions. Dashti said the attack may have been carried out with the aim of testing the valley’s defenses, but was repelled by the NFR.

The spokesman said eight Taliban members had been killed and as many wounded in the fighting, while two NRF forces sustained injuries.

“Last night, the Taliban attacked Panjshir, but were defeated with 7 dead and several wounded,” Bismillah Mohammadi, a member of the resistance movement who served as a minister under runaway president Ashraf Ghani, said in a tweet. “They retreated with heavy casualties.”

Ahmad Masoud, the son of the late anti-Soviet Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Masoud, has established himself in Panjshir Valley, leading a several-thousand-strong force comprised of militias and remnants of the Afghan army and special forces units who are opposed to the Taliban.

Panjshir has been the only region to hold out against the Taliban following their takeover of Afghanistan.

Afghan 'resistance' in Panjshir valley says ready for anti-Taliban fight

The mountainous Panjshir valley remains the only holdout against the Taliban after the militants took control of Afghanistan.

Masoud has called for a negotiated settlement with the Taliban but has said his forces will resist if the narrow and mountainous valley is attacked.

The Taliban are poised to run Afghanistan again 20 years after they were removed from power by American invading forces. The Taliban militants intensified their offensives and rapidly overran major cities in recent weeks as the United States started what was seen as a hasty withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15, prompting the evacuation of thousands of Afghan and foreign civilians via the Kabul airport, while foreign troops also used the airfield to pull out.

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