Even as Taliban leaders in Kabul are working to form a government, fierce fighting is still raging in the Panjshir Valley north-east of the capital as fighters loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud are holding out in the country’s smallest province.

Both sides claim they have inflicted heavy casualties, but exact numbers are difficult to assess.  Dozens of Taliban fighters are said to have been killed in skirmishes along its borders since August 15, when Kabul fell, and fighting is continuing.

A spokesman for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA) rebel grouping said it had full control of all passes and entrances and had driven back Taliban efforts to take Shotul district.

"The enemy made multiple attempts to enter Shotul from Jabul-Saraj, and failed each time," he said.

However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that Taliban fighters had entered Panjshir and taken control of some territory.  "The enemy suffered heavy losses," he claimed.

Panjshir is the last province resisting the Taliban who swept to power in a lightning advance with the Afghan army melting away without putting up a fight.

The Taliban say they have sent hundreds of fighters, but Panjshir is ready. According to news agency AFP, Taliban fighters who make it to the edges of the valley will be greeted by machine gun nests, mortars and surveillance posts fortified with sandbags.

The Taliban are also reportedly trying to cut supply lines into the valley, potentially hoping to force the resistance to give up, according to a BBC report.

Several thousand fighters from local militias and remnants of the government's armed forces have massed in Panjshir under the leadership of Massoud, son of a former Mujahideen commander.

Massoud, a 32-year-old King's College London and Sandhurst Military Academy graduate, has organised his defences well and is determined to keep the Taliban out.

In an interview with CNN, Massoud warned the Taliban had not changed and said he and his fighters believed "that democracy, the rights, and freedom of all citizens regardless of race and gender should be preserved."

While the Taliban has been saying that peace talks are on, its fighters have been launching attacks to capture territory.

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