Taliban, opposition fight for control of Panjshir

Taliban and opposition forces battled yesterday to control the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul, the last Afghan province holding out against the Islamist group, with both sides claiming to have the upper hand without producing conclusive evidence.
The Taliban, which took power in the rest of the country three weeks ago, were never able to control the valley when they last ruled Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001.
Panjshir also held out for nearly a decade against the Soviet Union’s occupation.
Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said the districts of Khinj and Unabah had been taken, giving Taliban forces control of four of the province’s seven districts.
“The Mujahideen (Taliban fighters) are advancing toward the centre (of the province),” he said on Twitter.
However, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), grouping forces loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud, said it surrounded “thousands of terrorists” in Khawak pass and the Taliban had abandoned vehicles and equipment in the Dashte Rewak area.
NRF fighters– made up of anti-Taliban militia and former Afghan security forces – are understood to have stockpiled a significant armoury in the valley, around 80km (50 miles) north of Kabul and guarded by a narrow gorge.
Front spokesman Fahim Dashti added “heavy clashes” were going on.
In a Facebook post, Massoud insisted Panjshir “continues to stand strongly”.
Praising “our honourable sisters”, he said demonstrations by women in the western city of Herat calling for their rights showed that Afghans had not given up demands for justice and “they fear no threats”.
Earlier, a Taliban source said the group’s advance was slowed by landmines placed on the road to the provincial capital, Bazarak.
Emergency, an Italian medical aid organisation, said that during Friday night, Taliban forces had pushed further into the Panjshir Valley, reaching the village of Anabah where the group has a surgical centre and a maternity centre.
“We have received a small number of wounded people at the Anabah Surgical Centre,” Emergency said in a statement, adding that many people fled from local villages in recent days.
It was not immediately possible to get further independent confirmation of events in Panjshir, which is walled off by mountains except for a narrow entrance.
Former vice-president Amrullah Saleh, holed out alongside Ahmad Massoud – the son of legendary 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.
Usually known for his sharp Western suits, Saleh was filmed wearing a traditional shalwar kameez tunic and a flat woollen pakol cap favoured by Panjshiris.
“The resistance is continuing and will continue,” he added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s spy chief Lieutenant-General Faiz Hameed flew into Kabul yesterday.
It was unclear what his agenda was, but a senior official in Pakistan said earlier in the week that Hameed, who heads the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, could help the Taliban reorganise the Afghan military.
Washington has accused Pakistan and the ISI of backing the Taliban in the group’s two-decade fight against the US-backed government in Kabul, although Islamabad has denied the charges.
In Kabul, Taliban fighters broke up a demonstration by about a dozen women to demand that the group respect women’s rights to education and jobs, according to private broadcaster Tolo news.
Footage showed women confronted by armed militants covering their mouths and coughing, and one demonstrator said the fighters had used tear gas and tasers against the participants, who had been carrying banners and a bouquet of flowers.
“They also hit women on the head with a gun magazine, and the women became bloody,” said a demonstrator who gave her name as Soraya.
Social media clips showed Taliban fighters and officials attempting to disperse the demonstrators and stopping people from filming with mobile phones.
The Taliban imposed violent punishments and barred women and older girls from school and work when previously in power, but have sought to present a more moderate face this time.
The Taliban source also said the announcement of a new government would be pushed back to next week.
Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, reported by some Taliban sources to be in line to lead the new government, said in remarks on Al Jazeera channel that the new administration will include all factions of Afghans.
“We are doing our utmost efforts to improve their living conditions. The government will provide security, because it is necessary for economic development,” he said.
The United Nations said it will convene an international aid conference on September 13 to help avert what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called a looming humanitarian catastrophe.
Western powers say they are prepared to engage with the Taliban and send humanitarian aid, but that formal recognition of the government and broader economic assistance will depend on action – not just promises – to safeguard human rights.

At least 17 killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul: reports
At least 17 people were killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul, news agencies said yesterday, after Taliban sources said their fighters had seized control of Panjshir, the last province in Afghanistan holding out against the Islamist group.
Leaders of opposition to the Taliban have denied that the province has fallen.
The Shamshad news agency said “aerial shooting” in Kabul on Friday killed 17 people and wounded 41.
Tolo news agency gave a similar toll.
At least 14 people were injured in celebratory firing in Nangarhar province east of the capital, said Gulzada Sangar, spokesman for an area hospital in the provincial capital of Jalalabad.
The gunfire drew a rebuke from the main Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid.
“Avoid shooting in the air and thank God instead,” Mujahid said in a message posted on Twitter, adding: “Bullets can harm civilians, so don’t shoot unnecessarily.” – Reuters