Despite their effective takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban may still have to contend with resistance to its rule from the Panjshir Valley in the country’s north. Former spy chief and deposed Vice President Amrullah Saleh and ex-Defense Minister Bismillah Mohammadi are among senior members of the ousted government who have taken refuge in the region, located 150 kilometer northeast of Kabul. Saleh declared himself the caretaker president after Ashraf Ghani resigned from the position and fled the country as the Taliban seized Afghanistan’s capital city on August 15.

“I will never, ever and under no circumstances bow to the Taliban terrorists. I will never betray the soul and legacy of my hero Ahmad Shah Mas[s]oud, the commander, the legend and the guide,” Saleh wrote on Twitter.

Panjshir Valley could prove to be the last “remaining holdout” where anti-Taliban forces “seem to be working on forming a guerrilla movement” against the Taliban, according to a Deutsche Welle report.

While the Taliban routed Afghan security forces in majority of the country’s provinces with little or no resistance, Panjshir Valley could prove difficult for the group to breach. This is because of the region being tucked in the Hindu Kush mountains with a narrow passage created by the Panjshir River providing the only access point. Tajiks form the majority of Panjshir’s population, while the majority of Talibs are Pashtuns.

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It was also from Panjshir that famous guerrilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud led resistance movements against the Soviets and Taliban until his assassination in 2001. Massoud’s Northern Alliance not only kept the Panjshir Valley out of Taliban reach but also controlled nearly all of northeastern Afghanistan.

Massoud’s son, Ahmad Massoud, has claimed to have been joined by former members of Afghan special forces and Afghan army “disgusted by the surrender of their commanders.”

Pictures of Saleh and Ahmad reportedly working out the modalities of a guerrilla offensive against Taliban have also emerged on social media.

Writing in The Washington Post on Wednesday, Ahmad said he was “ready to follow in my father’s footsteps, with mujahideen fighters who are prepared to once again take on the Taliban.”

The next day, Russia said it supported dialogue in Afghanistan against the backdrop of reports of “resistance forces of Afghanistan’s Vice President Mr. [Amrullah] Saleh and Ahmad Massoud” being concentrated in Panjshir.