The undefeated Panjshir Valley: Nestling another anti-Taliban movement

Only one province has so far evaded control by the Taliban, who now nearly control all of Afghanistan.

The Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul, is famed for not only resisting the first Taliban regime but also occupation by the Soviet military in the 1980s.

Panjshir — famous for its natural defences never penetrated by Soviet forces or the Taliban in earlier conflicts — remains the last major holdout of anti-Taliban forces led by Ahmad Massoud, son of the famed Mujahideen leader Ahmed Shah Massoud.

The revered Ahmad Shah Massoud — "The Lion of Panjshir" — who fought the Red Army and the Taliban is the valley's most prominent leader.

Tajiks, Afghanistan's second-largest ethnic group, have a stronghold in Panjshir. The main language among Tajiks is a dialect of Farsi called Dari, also the lingua franca of Afghanistan. The Tajiks have since long been at odds with the Pashtuns, who form the core of the Taliban movement and the biggest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

Read | Taliban say Afghan resistance force 'besieged', but seek talks

Panjshir, or the “Five Lions", it is said is thus called as a tribute to five brothers that managed to hold back floodwaters in the 10th century.

"The Soviets mounted nine major multiple-division offensives into the Panjshir Valley to crush the mujahideen of Ahmad Shah Massoud, but failed with heavy casualties. In 1989, the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, a defeated force," Army veteran Col Ronnie Rajkumar told the Financial Express.

In Panjshir, Ahmad Shah Massoud, had formulated the Northern Alliance — "an ethnic-biased alliance comprising of the Tajik – Uzbek – Hazara groups and were arrayed against the Taliban that was seen to be a primarily Pashtun-driven insurgency," Col. Rajkumar explains.

A resistance in the bastion

The National Resistance Front led by Ahmad Massoud is now prepared for a "long-term conflict" but is also still seeking to negotiate with the Taliban about an inclusive government.

Resisting the Taliban, some ex-government troops had gathered in the Panjshir Valley, however, Taliban fighters "are stationed near Panjshir", spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted, saying they had the area surrounded on three sides.

Former Afghan officials put the number of fighters holed up today in the Panjshir at 2,000-2,500 men, but they are isolated and lack logistical support.

A former first vice president, Amrullah Saleh, who is based there, now claims to be the “caretaker president” under Afghanistan’s US-brokered constitution of 2004 because Ghani fled the country. The Panjshiris have said they intend to resist a takeover of the valley unless the Taliban agree to an inclusive government.

Also Read | Panjshir valley will not be handed over to Taliban: Ahmad Massoud

The Islamists have "massed forces near the entrance of Panjshir", Saleh tweeted.

Experts however are skeptical of whether this resistance will hold in front of a stronger Taliban.

“The resistance for the moment is just verbal because the Taliban have not yet tried to enter the Panjshir," Afghan specialist Gilles Dorronsoro from Sorbonne University in Paris told AFP. “The Taliban only need to lock down the Panjshir, they don’t even have to go in there," he added.

“The Taliban surround Panjshir from all sides and I don’t think Massoud’s son can resist much more than a couple of months. For the moment, he does not have any really strong support," bdul Sayed, an independent researcher based in Lund in Sweden told AFP.

Ahmad Massoud said on Sunday he hoped to hold peaceful talks with the Taliban.

“We want to make the Taliban realise that the only way forward is through negotiation," he told Reuters. “We do not want a war to break out."

(Compiled with agency inputs)