700 Taliban fighters killed, 600 captured in fierce Panjshir battle, claims Massoud

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<strong>Afghanistan’s Northern Resistance Front chief Ahmad Massoud claimed in a Tweet on Sunday that the resistance forces had killed over 700 Taliban fighters and captured 600 while the others were on the run from the Panjshir battlefront. </strong></p>
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“More than 700 of them (Taliban) were killed, 600 captured and prisoned, the rest are trying to escape, we are in Frontline, everything was planned. We control the whole province,” Massoud tweeted.</p>
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The resistance forces' spokesperson Fahim Dashti also tweeted about the heavy casualties inflicted on the enemy. He said that the Taliban had problems with getting supplies from other Afghan provinces.</p>
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Meanwhile, the Taliban admitted that their offensive against Panjshir resistance forces has slowed down.</p>
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A Taliban source said fighting is continuing in Panjshir but the advance had been slowed by landmines on the road to the capital Bazarak and the provincial governor's compound, reported Al Jazeera.</p>
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Panjshir is the stronghold of the National Resistance Front, led by Ahmad Massoud, the son of late ex-Afghan guerrilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, and ex-Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who had declared himself caretaker President.</p>
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While the Taliban had said on Friday that they had made major gains in Panjshir. Massoud had dismissed the claims as “a lie and part of a disinformation campaign.”</p>
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An Indian journalist based in Kabul, posted on Twitter quoting sources that “Taliban did infiltrate Khwak pass but were cut off from the larger group. They’re now stuck in the pass surrounded by the resistance forces.</p>
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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.</p>
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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.</p>
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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.</p>
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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.</p>
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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.</p>
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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.</p>
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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."</p>
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While the Taliban has been saying that peace talks are on, its fighters have been launching attacks to capture territory.</p>
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