Landmines slow down Taliban offensive in Afghanistan's Panjshir
Sep 04, 2021
Kabul [Afghanistan], September 4 : The Taliban offensive against Panjshir resistance forces has slowed down due to the presence of land mines in the area.
A Taliban source said fighting was continuing in Panjshir but the advance had been slowed by landmines placed on the road to the capital Bazarak and the provincial governor's compound, reported Al Jazeera.
According to the broadcaster's source, the offensive and demining are being conducted at the same time.
"Demining and offensives are both going on at the same time," the source said.
The Taliban appears determined to snuff out the Panjshir resistance before announcing who will lead the country, reported Al Jazeera.
Fighting was reported on Saturday between the Taliban and resistance forces in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, the last region in Afghanistan holding out against the armed group.
A spokesman for the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, which groups opposition forces loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud, said Taliban forces reached the Darband heights on the border between Kapisa province and Panjshir but were pushed back.
"The defence of the stronghold of Afghanistan is unbreakable," Fahim Dashty said in a tweet.
Fighters from the NRF - made up of anti-Taliban fighters and former Afghan security forces - are understood to have stockpiled a significant armoury in the valley, 80km (50 miles) north of Kabul and guarded by a narrow gorge, reported Al Jazeera.
Panjshir is the stronghold of the National Resistance Front, led by Ahmad Massoud, the son of late ex-Afghan guerrilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, and ex-Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who had declared himself caretaker president.
In Panjshir, former Vice-President Amrullah Saleh holed out alongside Ahmad Massoud - the son of anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud - admitted the perilous position of the NRF.
"The situation is difficult, we have been under invasion," Saleh said in a video message. "The resistance is continuing and will continue."
Taliban and resistance tweets suggested the key district of Paryan had changed hands several times in the last few days, but that also could not be independently verified, reported Al Jazeera.
