Heavy fighting was reported Sunday in parts of northern Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, where rebel fighters from the National Resistance Front (NRF) have been battling a Taliban offensive.
This was told by a front representative in an audio message published by Panjshir_Province on Twitter.
"More than 700 terrorists were killed, 600 have were taken as prisoners, others are trying to escape, we are on the front line, everything has been planned. We control the entire province," he said.
Information about the Panjshir being controlled by the terrorists appeared on September 3. Taliban spokesman Belal Kareemi told CNN Sunday that the group's militant fighters have taken all districts of Panjshir province except for the capital of Bazarak and Rokha districts, which remain under NRF control. The spokesman claimed the enemy has suffered "heavy casualties," including among their commanders, and that the Taliban hope to be able to "clear Panjsher as soon as possible." Taliban fighters are currently advancing toward Rokha and Bazarak, Kareemi added.
However, the representatives of the NRFappeared to rebut the Taliban's claims, with NRF spokesman Fahim Dashti tweeting Sunday that the Paryan district of Panjshir was "completely cleared" of the Taliban.
"At least 1,000 terrorists were trapped due to the cutting of their way out. All the attackers were either killed, surrendered or captured by locals with help from resistance fighters as they fled and retreated. Many of these prisoners are foreigners and most of them are Pakistanis," Dashti said.
It later became known that the Taliban offensive against Panjshir had slowed down as the road to the capital of this Afghan province, Bazarak, was mined. Thus, the Taliban couldn't get to the governor of the province.
Panjshir, a strategic slice of mountainous terrain rich with precious mineral resources around 90 miles north of Kabul, is the only region among Afghanistan's 34 provinces to remain out of the Taliban's control. It was once a stronghold for the mujahideen fighting the Soviets and is now the seat of the resistance movement. Fighters in the province also held out against the Taliban in the late 1990s during their rule.
It's worth noting that the Taliban launched a large-scale offensive throughout Afghanistan in early May against the background of the withdrawal of the U.S. and other Western countries’ troops from the country. They have taken under control all major cities and border crossings of Afghanistan. On September 3, almost 20 years after the U.S. launched a military campaign in Afghanistan, the process of the troops withdrawal was completed.