Afghanistan: Panjshir forces claim hundreds of Taliban captured

Taliban reportedly meets stiff resistance after pushing deep into Afghanistan’s holdout Panjshir Valley.Taliban and opposition forces continue to battle to control the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul with resistance fighters saying they captured hundreds of Taliban troops.

The National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, grouping forces loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud, said on Sunday it surrounded “thousands of terrorists” in Khawak Pass and the Taliban abandoned vehicles and equipment in the Dashte Rewak area.NRF spokesman Fahim Dashti added “heavy clashes” were going on.Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, based in the capital Kabul, reported sources on the ground said hundreds of Taliban fighters had been taken prisoner on Sunday.

“Sources within the valley are saying the NRF are claiming to have captured about 1,500 Taliban. Apparently, these fighters were surrounded,” said Stratford.Dashti wrote on Twitter that Paryan district had been completely emptied of Taliban fighters.

Nearly 1,000 Taliban fighters were either killed, wounded, or taken captive after the exit route behind them was closed off, Dashti said. The information could not be verified independently.

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said on Twitter on Sunday its forces seized five of the province’s seven districts. Karimi said Khinj and Unabah districts had been taken, he said.

“The Mujahideen [Taliban fighters] are advancing toward the centre [of the province],” he wrote.Last holdout

Panjshir is the last Afghan province holding out against the armed group that swept to power last month.Both sides claimed to have the upper hand in Panjshir but neither could produce conclusive evidence to prove it. The Taliban was unable to control the valley when it ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscored the tenuous situation.

“My military estimate is, is that the conditions are likely to develop of a civil war. I don’t know if the Taliban is going to be able to consolidate power and establish governance,” Milley said.
If the Taliban cannot quash resistance, it will “in turn lead to a reconstitution of al-Qaeda or a growth of ISIS or other myriad of terrorist groups” over the next three years, said Milley.

Emergency, an Italian medical aid organisation, said Taliban forces had pushed further into the Panjshir Valley on Friday night, reaching the village of Anabah where the group has medical facilities.

Видео Afghanistan: Panjshir forces claim hundreds of Taliban captured канала World Latest News