Anti-Taliban forces
based out of north Afghanistan claim to have taken three districts in the
Panjshir valley from the Taliban. Remnants of government forces and other
militia groups opposed to the Taliban have reportedly all gathered at Panjshir valley,
according to a Reuters report.

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Afghanistan civilian
administration’s Defence Minister General Bismillah Mohammadi put out a tweet
saying the districts of Deh Saleh, Bano and Pul Hesar in the neighbouring
province of Baghlan to the north of Panjshir had been taken. The incident,
while not completely clear on details, indicates a resistance building up
against the Taliban who took over Afghanistan effectively by force last Sunday.

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TOLO News, an
Afghanistan-based news outlet quoted a police commander who said that the Bano
district located in Baghlan is now under the control of local militia forces
and that there have been heavy casualties. The Taliban are yet to comment on
the incident.

The resistance against
the Taliban in Afghanistan is being led by former Vice President Amrullah Saleh
and Ahmad Massoud, son of former anti-Soviet Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah
Massoud. Both of them have vowed to resist the Taliban from the Panjshir valley,
a strategic locale that kept the Taliban away in the 1990s and was helped repel
the Soviet forces back in the 1980s.

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According to people
close to Amrullah Massoud, there are more than 6,000 fighters putting up the
fight against the Taliban. The forces include Special Forces units as well as
local militia groups. The fighters reportedly have access to some helicopters
and military vehicles and have repaired some armoured vehicles left behind by
the Soviets.

Meanwhile, protests
have broken out across eastern Afghanistan in which protestors raised the
Afghan flag. These protests however are not in coordination with the resistance
building in Panjshir. But all these combined underscores the challenges Taliban
may face once they begin to consolidate their “victory”. The Taliban are yet to
enter Panjshir.