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Afghanistan’s ex-Vice President Saleh says fighting in Panjshir continues

In an audio message to the BBC earlier in the day, he refuted media reports that he had fled the country and headed for Tajikistan

CAIRO, September 3. /TASS/. Afghanistan’s former Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who proclaimed himself acting president after the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) seized power in Afghanistan, said on Friday fighting between the Taliban and resistance forces continue in the northern Panjshir province, which steadfastly refuses to recognize Taliban authority.

"Resistance is the nom de guerre of everyone here," he wrote on his Twitter account. "The RESISTANCE is continuing and will continue. I am here with my soil, for my soil & defending its dignity."

In an audio message to the BBC earlier in the day, he refuted media reports that he had fled the country and headed for Tajikistan.

Resistance spokesman Fahim Fashti said on the resistance account on Instagram that opposition forces were reinforced and the Taliban had sustained big losses.

Reuters said on Friday citing a Taliban source that the Taliban claims to have taken control of Panjshir. Meanwhile a source in the region told TASS that the national resistance forces refuted these reports.

After abortive talks between the Taliban and the National Resistance Front, Taliban fighters staged an offensive on Panjshir early this week. Fahim Dashti, spokesman for the resistance movement, told TASS on Thursday that the Taliban had failed to seize any of the outposts in the region. According to Dashti, about 350 Taliban militants were killed. He did not say how many casualties there were on the side of the resistance. The Taliban, however, have said nothing about their losses. Now and then they report on successful advances in Panjshir and announce their intention to take the province under their control "in the near future."

After the Biden administration announced the end of its US military operation in Afghanistan and the launch of its troop pullout, the Taliban embarked on an offensive against Afghan government forces. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said he had stepped down to prevent any bloodshed and subsequently fled the country. Vice President Amrullah Saleh said that under the constitution, he becomes "the caretaker president" in the absence of the president and called for armed resistance against the Taliban.

The northern province of Panjshir is the only pocket of resistance to the Taliban. It is led by Ahmad Massoud, a son of Ahmad Shah Massoud (1953-2001), a once influential leader of Afghanistan’s Tajik community who fought against the Taliban back in the 1990s.

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