The Taliban said on Sunday that “hundreds” of its fighters were heading to the Panjshir Valley, one of the few parts of Afghanistan not yet controlled by the group, AFP reported.
Since the Taliban overran Afghanistan, flickers of resistance have begun to emerge with some ex-government troops gathering in the Panjshir, north of Kabul, long known as an anti-Taliban bastion.
“Hundreds of Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate are heading towards the state of Panjshir to control it, after local state officials refused to hand it over peacefully,” the group wrote on its Arabic Twitter account.
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Since the Taliban took control of the country following a lightning charge into the capital Kabul, thousands of people have made their way to Panjshir according to a spokesman for anti-Taliban forces.
In Panjshir, Ahmad Massoud, the son of 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 around 9,000 people to counter the militants, the spokesman, Ali Maisam Nazary, told AFP.
Pictures taken by AFP during training exercises show dozens of recruits performing fitness routines, and a handful of armoured humvees driving across the valley northeast of Kabul.
Nazary said the group wants to push for a new system of government, but is prepared to fight if needed.
“Government forces came to Panjshir from several Afghan provinces,” Massoud told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya broadcaster Sunday. “The Taliban will not last long if it continues on this path. We are ready to defend Afghanistan and we warn of a bloodshed,” he said.
Where is Panjshir Located?
Panjshir, or the “Five Lions”, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern region of the nation containing the Panjshir Valley, which is nestled in the peaks of Hindu Kush in north of Kabul. The province is divided into seven districts and comprises 512 settlements. As of 2021, the population of Panjshir province was roughly 173,000. Bazarak serves as the provincial capital. It is now controlled by the Second Resistance, and the only province yet to be captured by the Taliban since the 2021 Taliban onslaught.
Panjshir became a separate province from adjacent Parwan Province in 2004. It is surrounded by Baghlan and Takhar in the north, Badakhshan and Nuristan in the east, Laghman and Kapisa in the south, and Parwan in the west.
How the Valley Has Been Preparing to Fight?
Since the Taliban took control of the country following a lightning charge into the capital Kabul, thousands of people have made their way to Panjshir to both join the fight and find a safe haven to continue their lives, Ali Maisam Nazary had told the AFP. While the Taliban control the vast majority of Afghanistan, Nazary optimistically highlighted reports that local militias in some districts have already begun resisting their hardline rule and have formed links with Massoud’s NRF. “Massoud did not give the order for these things to happen but they are all associated with us,” Nazary said. “The Taliban are overstretched. They cannot be everywhere at the same time. Their resources are limited. They do not have support amongst the majority.”
Why Panjshir Has Not Fallen to Taliban Yet
The Taliban have not been able to capture Panjshir because of the location of the valley, which makes it a natural fortress. Its crucial location, being north of Kabul in the Hindu Kush, gives it a geographical advantage. This was a resistance stronghold against the Soviets in the 1980s and then against the Taliban in the 1990s.
Saleh’s Connect to Panjshir
Deposed Vice President Amrullah Saleh hails from Panjshir, where he was born in 1972 to a Tajik family. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised in the heart of where the resistance began under the leader of the front, Ahmad Shah Massoud, and Saleh joined the movement at a young age.
Saleh’s sister was tortured to death by Taliban fighters in 1996, according to reports. “What happened in 1996 changed my perception of the Taliban permanently,” Saleh wrote in an editorial for Time magazine. He fought alongside his leader and as part of the Northern Alliance to take down the Taliban.
With inputs from AFP.
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