'The resistance is still alive': Afghan resistance claims to have captured three towns north of Kabul in fighting that 'killed or injured 60 Taliban fighters'
Afghan resistance has claimed to have captured three towns north of Kabul in fighting that 'killed or injured 60 Taliban fighters'.
Local forces are reported to have taken back the Pul-e-Hesar, Deh-e-Salah and Banu districts in the Baghlan province on Friday.
Writing in Persian, Afghan Defence Minister General Bismillah Mohammadi said the three areas had been reclaimed, adding: 'The resistance is still alive.'
A Twitter account under the name 'Panjshir Province' - the only area not controlled by the Taliban - earlier said the Pul-e-Hesar was captured while 'fighting was raging' in the other two districts.
Tajuden Soroush, a senior correspondent for Iran International, said the Banu and Pol-e-Hesar areas had been taken back, according to an ex-Afghan government official. He later added that Deh-e-Salah had fallen to anti-Taliban forces.
The Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul is Afghanistan's last remaining holdout, known for its natural mountainous defences.
It follows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirming that SAS-trained Afghan commandos have joined an armed resistance to the Taliban in the Valley.
Local forces are reported to have taken back the Pul-e-Hesar, Deh-e-Salah and Banu districts in the Baghlan province on Friday (pictured: an image tweeted alongside the reports)
The Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul is Afghanistan's last remaining holdout, known for its natural mountainous defences. Pictured: a map showing the holdout and the three areas north of Kabul reported to have been captured
A social media account posted at 1.40pm BST: 'Pul-e-Hesar district was taken back from the #Taliban and fighting is raging in Deh-e-Salah and Banu districts.
'Local sources say the Taliban have been attacked from several areas and suffered heavy casualties.'
Mr Soroush then posted at 1:53pm BST: 'An ex, Afgh government official tells me that local resistances forces in Baghlan province have recaptured Banu and Pol-e-Hesar districts from the Taliban.
'They are advancing towards the Deh Salah district. About 60 Taliban fighters were killed or injured.'
Around 10 minutes later, he wrote in a separate tweet: 'De Salah district also fell to the local resistance forces.'
Differing reports contended that Deh-e-Salah had not been captured at the time with the circumstances ever-changing, reports Newsweek.
Tajuden Soroush, a senior correspondent for Iran International, said the Banu and Pol-e-Hesar areas had been taken back, according to an ex-Afghan government official. He later added that Deh-e-Salah had fallen to anti-Taliban forces
A Twitter account under the name 'Panjshir Province' - the only area not controlled by the Taliban - said the Pul-e-Hesar was captured while 'fighting was raging' in the other two districts
It was also suggested that the Andarab district in Baghlan would be targeted by Afghan resistance fighters, with other reports even alleging that Andarab had already been recaptured.
Speaking yesterday, Russian official Lavrov confirmed that the resistance force was being led by deposed Vice-President Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, the son of a slain anti-Taliban fighter.
Reports claim that among the fighters headed to the region are members of the SAS-trained Afghan special forces, believed to be the best of the best that the Afghan military has to offer.
'The Taliban doesn't control the whole territory of Afghanistan,' Lavrov told reporters at a press conference in Moscow following a meeting with his Libyan counterpart.
Reports claim that among the fighters headed to the region are members of the SAS-trained Afghan special forces, believed to be the best of the best that the Afghan military has to offer
Speaking yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (pictured) confirmed that the resistance force was being led by deposed Vice-President Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, the son of a slain anti-Taliban fighter
'There are reports of the situation in the Panjshir Valley where the resistance of Afghanistan's vice president Mr Saleh and Ahmad Massoud is concentrated,' he said.
Lavrov also reiterated his call for an inclusive dialogue involving all political players in Afghanistan for the formation of a 'representative government'.
According to images shared on social media, Saleh and Massoud, the son of slain Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, are pulling together a guerrilla movement to take on the Taliban.
Ahmad Massoud, the son of Afghanistan's most famed anti-Taliban fighter, on Thursday said he was 'ready to follow in his father's footsteps', as he rallied his forces in the Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul - the country's last holdout.
Massoud is the son of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the famed anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban resistance leader assassinated in 2001, two days before the September 11 attacks on the US.
