Panjshir resistance says retaliated against Taliban attack, killed 7 of its fighters

The resistance movement against the Taliban in Panjshir province retaliated against an attack by the group that targeted one of the province’s outposts, which led to the death of seven Taliban fighters, a member of the resistance movement said on Tuesday.

“We pushed back against an attack by the Taliban on an outpost last night and seven or eight Taliban fighters were killed and several others wounded,” Afghan news outlet ToloNews cited Fahim Dashti, a member of the resistance as saying.

Two fighters from the resistance were wounded.

After the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on August 15, Panjshir province in the country’s northwest remained an unconquered area. It has become a stronghold for resistance, mobilizing under Ahmad Massoud, the 32-year-old son of the slain leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, who vowed to resist the Taliban.

The Taliban had claimed on Saturday that it entered Panjshir without facing any resistance.

Massoud’s supporters rejected the Taliban’s claim of entering Panjshir. “There is no fight in Panjshir and no one has entered the province,” said Mohammad Almas Zahid, head of the Resistance Front delegation.

The Taliban’s Samangani said that the door remained open for negotiations with Massoud’s supporters and on Saturday a delegation of Ahmad Massoud met with a Taliban delegation in Kabul, ToloNews reported.

The Taliban had announced two weeks ago that hundreds of their fighters were heading to Panjshir to control the province.