12/5/2023 0 Comments Panjshir petrol stationSituated some 90-odd miles from Kabul in the north central region of Afghanistan, the valley is something of an oddity. It played a critical role in the resistance against Soviet occupation in the 1980s and was the centre of resistance against the Taliban when it ruled Afghanistan from to 1996 to 2001. Panjshir Valley and its inhabitants have a reputation. Located just north of the capital, Kabul, the scenic Panjshir is one of the smallest of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. 'Due to a specific, credible threat, all U.S. Headed by the son of rebel leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, NRF forces in May announced an offensive against the Taliban – their first since the group seized power. The NRF was the last to hold out against the Taliban’s takeover of the country in August last year by retreating to the valley. Our forces fought fiercely till the last bullet.” The Panjshir Valley, girded on either side by steep mountains, has been known as a hub for resistance. “Only a small group of our forces were captured and killed by the Taliban. It had been my dream to visit Panjshir ever since I’d arrived in Afghanistan. Historically a geographic safe haven slicing through the Hindu Kush from Afghanistan to Tajikistan, this craggy, high-altitude valley is the final resting place of the legendary Lion of Panjshir, Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the only cohesive military opposition to the Taliban until his assassination in 2001. They have inflated the numbers,” Ali Nazary, head of NRF’s foreign relations, told the AFP news agency. The National Resistance Front (NRF), a group opposing the Taliban which has in the past claimed activity in the area, said the Taliban was exaggerating the number of fighters killed. With militia fighters and former government soldiers in its ranks, the NRF has set up machine gun nests, mortars and surveillance posts fortified with sandbags in anticipation of a Taliban assault. Afghanistan: Due to a specific, credible threat, U.S. “Due to a clearance operation against rebels in Rekha, Dara and Afshar (areas) of Panjshir province, 40 have been killed including four commanders and 100 more have been arrested,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet on Tuesday. In Afghanistan, history has a way of repeating itself: Today, much like when the Taliban last seized power in 1996, the rugged Panjshir province is the final redoubt standing in the way of their. The Taliban has in the past denied widespread fighting, saying it has established control of the entire country. Resistance groups have since said they have been carrying out operations in the area and clashing with Taliban fighters. The Taliban proclaimed victory over the province in September 2021, weeks after it took over the capital, Kabul, as foreign forces withdrew. The Taliban says it has killed 40 members of a rebel force, including four commanders, in the northern Afghanistan province of Panjshir.
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