The Federal Tax Service noted that the actions in the Panjshir Valley were the first offensive against the Taliban since he seized power in the country.
The Front was the last to resist the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, retreating to the Panjshir Gorge in September, weeks after government forces surrendered.
“Since last night, when Ahmad Massoud … ordered his troops to launch an offensive, three main areas have been liberated in Panjshir,” Ali Nazari, head of the foreign relations department of the Federal Tax Service, told the agency.
According to him, the main road, outposts and settlements in these areas were occupied, as well as the forces of the Federal Tax Service laid siege to the Taliban in offices in the region.
“Many Taliban fighters asked for time to surrender. The enemy suffered heavy losses,” Nazari added.
The Front said the offensive would continue in the 12 provinces where their forces are present, mainly in the north of the country.
At the same time, the Taliban refute the claims of the Federal Tax Service and say that there were no “military incidents” in Panjshir or any other part of the country.
However, residents of Panjshir told reporters that heavy fighting had been going on at night and people were leaving the areas due to the fighting.
The local Taliban commander also confirmed that there were fights with the Federal Tax Service, but stressed that “we were not surrounded and ambushed.”
The Panjshir Valley is known as a place of resistance to the Soviet troops in the 1980s, as well as to the Taliban in the late 1990s during their first time in power.
Ahmad Shah Massoud, known as the “Panjshir Lion”, who was assassinated in September 2001 by al-Qaeda, is well remembered in the region. His son is now organizing resistance against the Taliban along with other Afghan leaders in exile.
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