Afghan Resistance Vows to Keep Fighting as Taliban Claims It's Conquered Last Holdout

The Taliban has claimed to have taken complete control of Panjshir, the last province in Afghanistan that hadn't fallen to the militant group, solidifying its grip over the country.

Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid made the announcement on Monday after thousands of Taliban fighters overran eight districts of Panjshir overnight, witnesses told the Associated Press.

"With this victory, our country is completely taken out of the quagmire of war," he said.

Mujahid sought to ensure the safety of the people of Panjshir.

"We give full confidence to the honorable people of Panjshir that they will not be subjected to any discrimination, that all are our brothers, and that we will serve a country and a common goal," Mujahid's statement said.

However, the National Resistance Front (NRF), the anti-Taliban forces in Panjshir Valley made up of several militias and former Afghan government fighters, promised to continue fighting. The NRF said it was in "strategic positions" across the valley, adding "the struggle against the Taliban and their partners will continue".

The resistance movement—spearheaded Ahmad Massoud, the son of the late renowned anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, and former vice president Amrullah Saleh—is based in the Panjshir valley.

The precise whereabouts of the two men was not known.

Massoud said in a Twitter message after the Taliban announcement on Monday that he is safe.

"News of Panjshir conquests is circulating on Pakistani media. This is a lie. Conquering Panjshir will be my last day in Panjshir, inshallah," Massoud tweeted.

There was no comment from Saleh in response to the Taliban's claims of capturing the province.

The Panjshir valley and wider Panjshir region is known for having successfully fought off multiple invasions, including several from Soviet forces during the Soviet-Afghan war from 1979 to 1989, and the Taliban in the 1990s.

Panjshir is a long, narrow valley flanked by steep mountains, with only one major point of exit and entry when approaching from Kabul, making it difficult to conquer.

The NRF had been controlling the region, and since the fall of Kabul, Amarullah Saleh, the former vice president who claims to be Afghanistan's "caretaker president," has been building up a resistance against the Taliban in the Panjshir valley.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Massoud said he welcomed a negotiated settlement to end the fighting. Afghan media reported that religious scholars had called on the Taliban to accept such a settlement.

"The NRF in principle agree to solve the current problems and put an immediate end to the fighting and continue negotiations," Massoud said in the Facebook post.

"To reach a lasting peace, the NRF is ready to stop fighting on condition that Taliban also stop their attacks and military movements on Panjshir and Andarab," he added.

However, Mujahid said on Monday in the press conference that the Taliban tried to negotiate with the NRF but used force when talks failed. He also said a new Afghan government would be announced soon, but he didn't give a specific date.

On Sunday, the NRF confirmed that its main spokesman, Fahim Dashti, had been killed earlier that day in fighting against the Taliban.

The spokesman had survived the Al Qaeda suicide attack that killed Massoud's father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, on September 9, 2001, only two days before the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, which led to American presence in Afghanistan.

The Taliban took control of most of Afghanistan in mid-August, as U.S. and other Western forces withdrew their troops, after two decades in the country. On August 30, just before the clock struck midnight, the last U.S. soldiers left Afghanistan.

However, the withdrawal did not go smoothly as thousands of people scrambled to the airport to be evacuated by the U.S. and other Western forces. Although thousands left Kabul safely, hundreds of Americans and Afghans who had worked with U.S. forces during the war were left behind.

Adding to the misery, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive near the gates of Kabul's airport on August 26, killing 13 American service members and at least 170 Afghans. ISIS-K claimed responsibility for that attack.