The Taliban claimed on Monday to have captured the Panjshir Valley, the last bastion of Afghanistan not firmly under their control, even as representatives of the opposition forces there maintained that they still had control over strategic positions in the region and vowed to fight on.
The conflicting accounts of what was happening on the ground in the area 70 miles north of Kabul, the country’s capital, were hard to verify because internet and telephone service into the region has been cut off.
If the Taliban has gained control over the rugged region and manages to keep it under its rule, it would be both a final strategic victory in its lightning-quick conquest of the country and a deeply resonant moment.
The Taliban never managed to control Panjshir the last time they ruled Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001, and it was the launching point for the U.S.-led invasion after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
Soviet forces, during their occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, made advances into the territory on at least nine occasions, only to be repelled each time, sometimes after suffering brutal casualties.
The Taliban have always been bitterly opposed to the fighters of the Panjshir and were complicit in the assassination of their storied commander Ahmad Shah Massoud 20 years ago.
While rumors of the Taliban’s having taken over in Panjshir swirled this past weekend, it was not until Monday morning that the group officially claimed control. » | By Sami Sahak, Wali Arian and Jim Huylebroek | Monday, September 6, 2021
Afghanistan : les talibans annoncent avoir pris le contrôle complet du Panchir : La résistance s'était organisée dans cette vallée depuis la prise du pouvoir par les talibans en Afghanistan à la mi-août. »
