Only one of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces has managed to resist the Taliban takeover: Panjshir, located in northeastern Afghanistan, 100 km from Kabul, is the stronghold of resistance commander Massoud, succeeded by his son, Ahmad. Images online show how resistance fighters have prepared to battle the Taliban, which in turn has shared propaganda images as a show of force. The FRANCE 24 Observers team was able to talk to a politician close to the resistance movement.
With an area of 3,610 km², Panjshir is the smallest province in Afghanistan. However, the region is surrounded by mountains reaching up to 5,768 metres, and home to 145 glaciers. This hostile environment is connected to the rest of the country by only four roads, two to the north and two to the south.
It was here that the "Lion of Panjshir", commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, stood up to the Soviets (from 1979 to 1989) and then the Taliban (from 1996 to 2001). Massoud was head of the Panjshir resistance movement, called the Northern Alliance, before his assassination on September 9, 2001.
Today, the Northern Alliance is led by his son, Ahmad Massoud. The group has allied with several other movements to form the National Resistance Front, which aims to protect Panjshir from Taliban occupation.
However, the FRANCE 24 Observers team was able to verify two other videos published by the Taliban, claiming they were taken in Panjshir. The Taliban fighters in these videos are actually by the Gulbahar bridge in the Parwan district, around 1.7 km south of the Panjshir border. Therefore, these videos do not prove that the Taliban has penetrated Panjshir.
observers.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20210830-panjshir-northern-alliance-taliban-resistance-movement?xtor=CS1-51-[Desktop]-[CNN+Edition+%28Turner+International%29]&dicbo=v1-697308ae1897ac2ceba938a4a51bc558-00518f0950dd1d41ab61ec38c907920b17-gmzgcnzxg5sgcljwha4tcljumuytgllbgbtdgljrgy2dmy3cgeytsnzugi
