why Panjshir is the only province that has not fallen into the hands of the Taliban

The province of Panjshir and its valley, a hundred kilometers north of Kabul, has become the main stronghold against the Taliban, after the rest of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, including the capital, fell into insurgent hands in a rapid offensive.

The province is safe and all state organizations remain active, residents are prepared for any type of attack by the Taliban, The head of the Panjshir economy department, Abdul Rahman, assured Efe.

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

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

But with his death twenty years ago, he will no longer be able to fight this fight. The “Lion of Panjshir” died 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 at a giant rate and in the valley the cult of his figure is omnipresent, with his portrait wearing a traditional Tajik pakol or beret that many have compared to that of another guerrilla myth, Che Guevara.

Commander Massoud led the resistance in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupiers in the 1980s, and then against the Taliban when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

The area

To Ahmad Massoud Jr. – who spent several years in exile in Iran with his mother and five sisters after the death of his father and then in England to study. He likes to quote the Persian poet Saadi or talk about the happiness you feel while observing the Milky Way in the Panjshir.

Many of the troops who did not resist the Taliban during their rapid offensive in the country, which in just over a week conquered 33 provincial capitals, sThey 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 pointed out that so far are the local troops those who are in charge of the “95 percent” of the province’s protection.

After many political leaders left the country, such as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Vice President Saleh he assured in a message that he will face the insurgents until the end.

“Never, never and under no circumstances will I bow to terrorists Taliban. 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.

The son of the “Lion of Panjshir”, the young Ahmad Massoud, now seems to have become in one of the key rooms lead this resistance, when the Taliban have already proclaimed their victory in Afghanistan and the birth of a new era for the country.

Source: EFE

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