BLOODBATH: HUNDREDS of fighters are reported to have died in bloody battles between the “Lion of Panjshir” resistance fighters and the Taliban because the terrorists attacked final free stronghold in Afghanistan.
Heavy preventing has been reported across the Panjshir Valley – an space simply 80 miles north of Kabul that’s considered an impenetrable pure fortress.
Casualty numbers stay unsure on each side – but it surely has been reported that the demise toll is now within the a whole lot because the bloodshed continues.
Resistance forces – formally titled the Nationwide Resistance Entrance (NRF) – have vowed to by no means give up and struggle to the final man because the Taliban try and take management of the final free bastion in Afghanistan.
Taliban officers had claimed the realm had fallen – sparking wild celebrations in Kabul that left 17 folks useless as fighters stupidly fired their weapons into the air.
Nevertheless, resistance sources have denied this and the valley is known to nonetheless be standing in opposition to the Taliban.
The stronghold – which is protected by mountains – is claimed to be hanging within the stability.
Round 200,000 folks stay within the area which has by no means been conquered earlier than – with fighters holding out within the space beating again within the Soviets within the 80s and the Taliban within the 90s.
Resistance fighters in Panjshir are understood to be native tribesmen who’re preventing alongside former Afghan troopers and police, together with Western-trained commandos and particular forces.
And the drive has stockpiled army gear together with tanks, helicopters, artillery weapons and vans as they put together for a doubtlessly lengthy siege.
Nevertheless, they’re dealing with a Taliban who’s armed with an enormous multi-billion greenback arsenal of US weapons because the terrorists seized a whole lot of 1000’s of items of kit that had been left behind.
The resistance are often known as the “Lions of Panjshir” as they’re partly led by Ahmad Massoud, the son of a legendary freedom fighter often known as “The Lion” of defended the valley within the 80s and 90s.
“There isn’t any doubt we’re in a tough state of affairs. We’re beneath invasion by the Taliban,” he stated in a video message to the BBC.
He added: “We is not going to give up, we’re standing for Afghanistan.”
Saleh additionally denied Taliban claims that he had fled the nation, and accused Pakistan of serving to to help the terrorist forces – one thing firmly denied by Islamabad.
Often recognized for his sharp Western fits, Saleh was filmed carrying a conventional shalwar kameez tunic and a flat woollen pakol cap favoured by Panjshiris.
“The resistance is constant and can proceed,” he added.
Resistance officers declare the Taliban at the moment are on the again foot, with a number of hundred fighters at present trapped and working out of munitions.
Saleh has raged in opposition to the West’s “betrayal” of Afghanistan because the sudden and muddled withdrawal by US forces is broadly credited with permitting the Taliban to surge again to energy as soon as once more.
Western nations have spent 20 years attempting to rebuild Afghanistan as a brand new democratic authorities was put in and brutal legal guidelines enacted by the Taliban have been ended.
Nevertheless, the occupation was beneath fixed assault from terrorist forces – and US President Joe Biden had declared his want to finish so-called “perpetually wars”.
Some 20 years of labor was undone in a matter of weeks because the Taliban surged again to energy – typically unopposed – and recaptured Kabul as Western forces boarded evacuation planes.
The preventing right here is heavy now, with casualties on each side. The Taliban are utilizing American munitions in opposition to us and Blackhawk helicopters are being flown in to bolster their assaults,” Saleh wrote within the Every day Mail.
He went on: “The betrayal of Afghanistan by the West is colossal.
“The scenes at Kabul airport in latest days represented the humiliation of humanity, a humiliation for any nation that has been concerned in Afghanistan because the Taliban have been routed by the US-led Coalition Power within the aftermath of the 9/11 atrocity.”
Saleh added: “This isn’t solely shameful for President Biden, it’s shameful for the entire of Western civilisation.”
