Afghanistan Crisis: Panjshir, north of Kabul, has long been known as an anti-Taliban bastion.
Dubai:
The Taliban said on Sunday that “hundreds” of their fighters were on their way to the Panjshir Valley, one of the few parts of Afghanistan not yet controlled by the group.
Since the Taliban overran Afghanistan, flickers of resistance have begun to emerge with some ex-government forces gathering in Panjshir, north of Kabul, long known as an anti-Taliban bastion.
“Hundreds of Mujahideen from the Islamic Emirate are on their way to Panjshir state to check it after local state officials refused to hand it over peacefully,” the group wrote on its Arab Twitter account.
Since the Taliban took control of the country after a lightning strike in the capital Kabul, thousands of people have made their way to Panjshir, a spokesman for anti-Taliban forces said.
In Panjshir, Ahmad Massoud, the son of the legendary mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was assassinated by al-Qaeda two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks, has sought to assemble a force of about 9,000 people to counter the terrorists. go, the spokesman said. Ali Maisam Nazary, told AFP.
Photos taken by AFP during training exercises show dozens of recruits performing fitness routines, and a handful of armored humvees riding through the valley northeast of Kabul.
Nazary said the group wants to push for a new system of government but is willing to fight if necessary.
“Government forces came to Panjshir from various Afghan provinces,” Massoud told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya channel on Sunday.
“The Taliban will not last long if they continue down this road. We are ready to defend Afghanistan and we warn of bloodshed.”
