Taliban Again Attack Panjshir: Claims Kill Several Insurgents, Including Two Field Commanders

JAKARTA - The Taliban launched a major offensive against members of the National Resistance Front in northern Afghanistan's Panjshir Province, Bakhtar News Agency said on Thursday local time.

"During the operation, about nine insurgents were killed, including two field commanders, while a large number of weapons and ammunition were seized," a military source said, citing TASS Sept. 2.

The Taliban decided to launch a military operation against the insurgency in Afghanistan's Panjshir Province, Al Jazeera TV channel reported citing Taliban sources.

According to them, the decision to switch to military operations was taken by the Taliban after failed negotiations with members of the resistance, in particular with Ahmad Massoud.

According to the Afghan news agency, the Taliban managed to destroy 11 enemy fire lines in the Derbent-Garani, Gulbahar and Shatal areas.

Each side says it has inflicted heavy casualties.

"We started the operation after negotiations with the local armed group failed. The Taliban fighters have entered Panjshir and captured some areas. They (the enemy) suffered heavy losses," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, citing Reuters on September 3.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the insurgent group Afghan National Resistance Front (NRFA) said they had complete control over all entrances and entrances and had pushed back efforts to seize Shotul district.

"The enemy made several attempts to enter Shotul from Jabul-Saraj, and failed each time," he said, referring to a town in the neighboring province of Parwan.

On Wednesday, the NRFA denied information the Taliban had taken over six positions on the outskirts of Panjshir Gorge, which serves as an outpost for those fighting the Taliban.

Fahim Dashti, spokesman for the National Resistance Force, stated that over the past day, the Taliban had launched several attacks in Panjshir, but they were defeated.

According to Dashti, at least 40 Taliban insurgents were killed, around 35 others were injured. The radicals carried out hostilities from the Baghlan province of Panjshir.

Senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Muttaqi, who was also appointed governor of Panjshir, said negotiations between the Taliban and the National Resistance Front had failed.

The Taliban felt the conditions were 'illogical', TV channels reported. Massoud allegedly put forward four conditions for the ceasefire that demanded not to confiscate weapons and military equipment from the militias, in order to give them 30 percent of the seats in the future government.

Moreover, he considered it necessary that the appointment of officials should be done with the consent of the resistance and the Taliban would not control and persecute those who wanted to come to Panjshir.

To note, the Taliban have kept Panjshir under siege for more than a week. In recent days, there have been reports of clashes between the parties near the provincial border. Taliban militants have been trying to seize resistance posts.

Panjshir province in the north is the only pocket of resistance against the Taliban. Here is Ahmad Massoud, son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, one of the main leaders of Afghanistan's anti-Soviet resistance in the 1980s, along with several thousand local militia members and remnants of army and special forces units that have been defending against the Taliban.