Battles of Panjshir : Taliban announces progress, forces of Ahmed Masoud confirm repelling the attack

The Taliban announced their advance on the ground in Panjshir province, northern Afghanistan, and confirmed their control of the Brian district, while the forces of local leader Ahmed Masoud said that they repelled the attack.

Violent clashes erupted Friday between Taliban fighters and militants of the so-called "popular uprising" in the "Gul Bahar" area, overlooking the Panjshir Valley, north of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

A source in the Taliban movement told Al-Jazeera that the movement decided to launch a large-scale military operation in the state of "Pangshir", after the failure of negotiations with the leader of the so-called "popular uprising" Ahmed Masoud.

A Taliban fighter said, "The fighting is now raging in that valley. Our enemies are using heavy cannons whose projectiles fall on innocent homes. We chased them yesterday and took three checkpoints. We captured a tank, and their bodies are there."

Afghan citizen Muhammad Zaman said, "I came now from that direction. The phone lines are cut off from the Panjshir area, and the Taliban are checking people's identities, and they only allow those who have a special permit to cross."

And both sides (the Taliban and Massoud's forces) confirmed that the other side had incurred heavy losses in life. It was not possible to confirm the statements of the two sides because the Internet and telephone communications were suspended in the Panjshir Valley.

Ahmed Fal Bin Al-Din, reported that fierce battles are taking place near the village of Gulbahar on the outskirts of the Panjshir Valley, and that the people sent their families to Kabul for fear of them in light of the intensity of the battles and the fall of shells.

He added that the Taliban movement seems determined not to repeat its mistake during its previous rule, when the Panjshir region remained out of its control, noting that the movement cut the supply lines between the province inhabited by a majority Tajik and the state of Tajikistan.

The front confirmed that it had inflicted heavy losses on the Taliban movement and repelled the attack launched by the Taliban to control the only state outside its control. In contrast, pro-Taliban social media accounts report that 31 Panjshir fighters were killed in the fighting.

"There is heavy fighting in the Panjshir valley," said Ali Maysam Nazari, a spokesman for the National Resistance Front - which includes anti-Taliban militias and former members of the Afghan forces.

"Masoud is busy defending the valley," he added, referring to Ahmed Masoud, son of the commander Ahmed Shah Massoud, who was famous for his resistance to the Soviets and then the Taliban, and who was assassinated by al-Qaeda on September 9, 2001.

On the other hand, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the movement's fighters entered Panjshir after the failure of negotiations with the local armed group and "inflicted heavy losses on the enemy."

Zabihullah Mujahid added - in statements to Radio Azadi International - that the movement's fighters made progress and took control of major checkpoints in the Jabal Siraj area in Parwan state, north of Kabul, as well as the Khawak area, near the Panjshir Valley.

"Taliban forces gathered around the entrance to the valley, but were ambushed and incurred losses," wrote Martin van Bieglert of the Afghan Analysts Network.

Bieglert added that the two sides are mainly seeking to strike to strengthen their position in the negotiations, without starting an all-out battle, but indicated that the Taliban began calling for reinforcements from other states.

The breakdown of negotiations

A source in the Taliban movement told Al-Jazeera on Wednesday evening that the movement decided to launch a large-scale military operation in the state of Panjshir after the failure of negotiations with the leader of the so-called "national resistance", Ahmed Masoud.

According to the source, Masoud presented conditions that the Taliban considers illogical.

These conditions are that the Taliban will not withdraw weapons and military equipment from its forces, that the “popular uprising” be given a 30% share of the composition of the next government, that all officials are appointed with the approval of the “uprising,” and that whoever wants to visit the state of Panjshir is not subject to monitoring and tracking.

The Taliban had previously announced that hundreds of its fighters had gone to the province to control it, after local provincial officials refused to hand it over peacefully.

Ahmed Shah Massoud's son had previously said he hoped to hold peace talks with the movement that took control of Kabul, but stressed that his forces were ready to fight.

Massoud stressed that his supporters are ready to fight if the Taliban tries to invade their territory, adding that they "want to defend, to fight; they want to resist any totalitarian regime."

He was joined by Ahmed Masoud, former Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who considers himself the legitimate president of Afghanistan after President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left the country.

Thousands of soldiers from the Afghan army, which collapsed after the withdrawal of US forces and the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, joined Massoud's alliance.

In a related context, Amrullah Saleh, the outgoing Afghan Vice President Ashraf Ghani, denied the news that he had left the Panjshir Valley and appeared in a video recording confirming this.

Indian media had reported that Amrullah Saleh had left the state of Panjshir for Tajikistan, while the Russian "Sputnik" news agency at the same time quoted a source in the Panjshir forces denying that Amrullah Salih had left the state for Tajikistan.