The Taliban reported Tuesday that at least 41 suspected National Resistance Front (NRF) rebels were killed in an operation by Islamist forces in the northern province of Panjshir, a former stronghold of the resistance that fought against the Taliban takeover. Taliban a year ago.
“A large-scale mopping-up operation was carried out against the rebels in the Rukh, Dara and Afshar districts of Panjshir province. In it 41 people, including three commanders, were killed,” the main spokesman for the group reported on Twitter. the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid.
In addition, another 100 suspected guerrillas were detained, he said.
Among the rebels reduced by the Taliban forces were the commanders Faheem Commando, Jawad, Mohammadyar, according to the spokesman, who shortly after also added the name of commander Malik Khan to the list of the dead, despite the fact that shortly before he had assured who was among those detained alive.
According to Zabihullah, the guerrillas “wanted to destroy the security of the people.”
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15 last year, the National Resistance Front has reported intermittent clashes between its members and the Taliban government.
However, this is the first time the Taliban have officially reported a clash between their forces and the NRF.
Although the Taliban reported no casualties within their ranks, NRF spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi said that in the clashes that started last Saturday in Panjshir, at least 32 members of the fundamentalist forces were killed.
According to Ahmadi, in addition, some 13 members of the NRF were killed in the clashes. “On Sunday, with 32 invaders dead, the enemy’s attack failed,” he wrote on Twitter.
The NRF, made up of local guerrillas and troops from the ousted Afghan government who had taken refuge in Panjshir, lost control of the region in early September last year, this being the last province to be captured by the Taliban.
The NRF is headed by Ahmad Masud, son of the so-called “Lion of the Panshir”, Ahmad Shah Masud, a legend for standing up to the Soviets and the Taliban.
After weeks of intense fighting and the subsequent seizure of the province by the Taliban, Massoud announced the withdrawal of the guerrilla forces to continue their fight later and left the country.