The Panjshir Valley: what is the main stronghold of resistance against the advance of the Taliban in Afghanistan

Panjshir province and its valley, about 100 kilometers north of Kabul, became the main stronghold against the Taliban again, after the rest of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, including the capital, fell to insurgents during a fast offensive.

The province is safe and all state organizations remain active, the inhabitants are prepared for any type of attack by the Taliban, he assured the EFE Agency the head of the Panjshir economics department, Abdul Rahman.

“We are ready to resist the Taliban for the second time”Rahman said, referring to the fact that during the previous Taliban regime, between 1996 and 2001, the Panjshir Valley was the only region in Afghanistan that avoided occupation by insurgents.

At the forefront of this resistance was the charismatic guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, known as the “Lion of Panjshir”, that thanks to his talents as a strategist and to the natural strength that the valley represents, succeeded in preventing the fall of the province under Taliban control, as it had done before during the Soviet invasion.

However, the “Lion of Panjshir” was killed two days before the September 11 attacks, at the hands of two journalists suspected of Arab origin, who detonated an explosive charge hidden in a fake camera, an action which has been linked to Al-Qaeda. .

Since then, the memory of the fighter has grown by leaps and bounds and the cult of his figure is omnipresent in the valley, with his portrait wearing a traditional Tajik pakol or beret that many compare to that of another guerrilla myth, Che Guevara. .

The son of the “Lion of Panjshir”, the young Ahmad Massoud, now seems to have become one of the centerpieces of this resistance, while the Taliban were already proclaiming their victory in Afghanistan and the birth of a new era for the country.

Now many troops who did not offer resistance the Taliban during their rapid offensive in the country, which in just over a week conquered 33 provincial capitals, are now at Panjshir accompanying political leaders such as the first vice-president of the former Afghan government, Amrullah Saleh.

Although Abdul Rahman confirmed the presence of these security forces, he stressed that so far it is the local troops who are in charge of “95 percent” of the protection of the province.

After many political leaders left the country, such as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Vice President Saleh assured in a message that he would face the insurgents to the end. “Never, never and under no circumstances will I bow to the Taliban terrorists. I will never betray the soul and the legacy of my hero Ahmad Shah Massoud, the commander, the legend and the guide … I will never be under the same roof as the Taliban. Never, ”he remarked.