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Taliban forces and fighters loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud fought in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley on Thursday, with each side saying it had inflicted heavy casualties in the last province resisting Taliban rule.
After the fall of Kabul on August 15, several thousand fighters from local militias and the remnants of army and special forces units have massed in Panjshir.
Under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, son of a former Mujahideen commander, they have been holding out in the province, a steep valley that makes attacks from outside difficult.
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New personnel in the Afghan security forces take part in military training in Bandejoy, Panjshir province, only days after the Taliban’s stunning takeover of Afghanistan. AFP -
The presence of Afghanistan’s armed forces in Panjshir is seen as vital because the province is one of the few areas of the country not under Taliban control. AFP -
The tricky terrain of Panjshir valley is familiar territory to Ahmad Massoud, the son of veteran militia leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, who fought to resist the Taliban after Soviet forces left Afghanistan in 1989. AFP -
Mr Massoud has formed the National Resistance Front, which has been in talks with Taliban leaders over the possibility of forming a coalition government, but any agreement appears unlikely. AFP -
A strong military force has gathered in the Panjshir valley in preparation for a long battle with the Taliban, whose fighters are also assembling in the stronghold of resistance. AFP -
Mr Massoud’s father was popularly known as the Lion of Panjshir after leading a dogged resistance against the Soviets in the 1980s and then the Taliban during the Afghan civil war. AFP -
Panjshir never fell to the Taliban in the civil war and the resistance front is determined that that will also be the case now. AFP -
Rigorous fitness training is required in the rugged terrain. AFP -
Mr Massoud said Afghans must back all ‘local militias’ across the country to resist the Taliban. AFP -
Mr Massoud said ‘the people … are going to fight to the very last breath’. AFP
Efforts to negotiate a settlement appear to have broken down, with each side blaming the other for the failure of talks as the Taliban prepared to announce a government.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group's fighters had entered Panjshir and taken control of some territory.
"We started operations after negotiation with the local armed group failed," he said. "They suffered heavy losses."
However, a spokesman for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, a group of rebels, said it had full control of all passes and entrances and had driven back efforts to take Shotul district at the entrance to the valley.
"The enemy made multiple attempts to enter Shotul from Jabul-Saraj and failed each time," he said, referring to a town in the neighbouring Parwan province.
The spokesman said NRFA forces had killed large numbers of Taliban fighters on two fronts since clashes broke out earlier in the week.
"It has been proven to the other side that they cannot resolve this issue through war," the spokesman said in reference to the Taliban's losses.
Both sides provided varying figures for the other's casualties, without offering evidence. It was not possible to verify the numbers of fighters on either side killed.
The Taliban says the Panjshir valley is surrounded on all four sides and a rebel victory is impossible. The rebels say they will refuse to surrender.
