An anti-Taliban Afghan resistance group on Sunday claimed their fighters cleared a district in north-eastern Panjshir province from the radical militants and inflicted heavy casualties on them.

The spokesperson of the National Resistance Front (NRF), Fahim Dashti, wrote on Twitter that Paryan district has been completely emptied of Taliban fighters.

Nearly a thousand Taliban fighters have been either killed, wounded or taken captive after the exit route behind them was closed off, Dashti said.
The information could not be verified independently.

A Taliban spokesman, Bilal Karimi, claimed on Twitter on Sunday that their forces have seized five of the province’s seven districts.

Panjshir is the only one of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces that is not yet under Taliban control. It is a mountainous and hard-to-reach region north of Kabul, giving anti-Taliban fighters an advantage.

A resident of the Shutul district, which is located at province’s entry point, said Taliban militants had entered their village on Saturday and shot at several parked cars. The majority of civilians had already fled farther into the mountains before they entered.

He added the fighters left again. There were unconfirmed reports they were ambushed on their way out.

Ahmad Massoud, the son of famous Afghan leader Ahmad Shah Massoud who was assassinated just two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks is leading the resistance front.
In addition to the fighting, former local politicians reported that the Taliban have blocked humanitarian access to the province.

“They are not allowing food, nothing, to be entered into Panjshir,” Zal Mohammad Zalmay Noori, a former parliamentarian from the province told dpa on Sunday.

Afghanistan fell to the Taliban militants three weeks ago. Since then, the country has been in a state of crisis and uncertainty.

Tens of thousands have already fled while the majority of state institutions remain closed. The Taliban have said for days they are close to forming a government, but there has been no announcement.

By Media1

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