The Taliban announced their control of the "Shatel" district and the "Bryan" district in the northern Afghan province of Panjshir, while the forces of local leader Ahmed Masoud said that they repelled the attack and vowed to continue fighting, while there were dead and wounded by shooting in Kabul to celebrate the progress of the Taliban in Panjshir.

Today, Saturday, battles continued between the Taliban and the militants of the so-called "popular uprising" and the Afghan National Front, led by Ahmed Masoud in the village of "Gul Bahar" in the Panjshir Valley.

And both sides (the Taliban and Massoud's forces) confirmed that the other side had incurred heavy losses in life.

It has not yet been possible to obtain independent confirmation of events in the mountainous province of Panjshir, with the exception of its narrow entrance, which has withstood both the Soviet occupation and the former Taliban government.

Fahim Dashti, a spokesman for the Afghan National Resistance Front, which includes opposition forces loyal to local leader Ahmed Masoud, said the Taliban forces reached the Darband heights on the border between Kapisa and Panjshir provinces, but were repelled.

"The defense of Afghanistan's stronghold is unbreakable," Dashti added in a tweet.

On the other hand, a Taliban source said that fighting continues in Panjshir, but progress has been slowed by landmines planted on the road to the capital, Pazark and the provincial governor's compound.

The source added that demining operations and attacks are taking place at the same time.

Afghan activists broadcast on social media pictures showing elements of the Taliban movement, near the province of Panjshir.

Activists said that the movement's fighters took control of central areas near the state, as they took control of the Shattal district, northeast of Panjshir.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kabul, Ahmed Val Wallduddin, said that the information received from Panjshir is very conflicting. Sources close to the Taliban confirm that the movement's forces have advanced significantly inside the province until they reached the center of the Panjshir Valley, but the other side "categorically" denied this.

He added that the region of Panjshir is geographically protected because it is a very rugged area located in the Hindu Kush mountain range, and it is difficult to reach or control it militarily, and the majority of the population of the state is of Tajik ethnicity.


persistence of resistance

The leader of the National Resistance Front, Ahmed Masoud, announced on his official page on the social networking site (Facebook) that he would never give up the fight for God, freedom and justice.

In turn, Amrullah Saleh, Vice President of Afghanistan and one of the leaders of the National Resistance Front, on Friday denied the reports that the "Taliban" movement had managed to control the province of Panjshir.

Saleh said in video statements published by the local "Tolo News" channel, that "he is still in Panjshir, and that the clashes in the state are still most intense."

Saleh added, in a series of tweets on Twitter, that the Taliban prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Panjshir, and also used young men from the state as tools to detect mines, by ordering them to walk in minefields.


Celebration dead

In Kabul, two people were killed and 10 others wounded in a shooting to celebrate the news of the Taliban's control of Panjshir province last night, according to local media.

"Tolo News" channel (privately) quoted a source in the emergency hospital in Kabul (an unnamed one) as saying that "the hospital received two dead and 10 wounded."

The source explained that the victims arrived at the hospital after nine o'clock on Friday evening, adding that all of them were shot in the air throughout the city.

In this context, the Associated Press quoted an official at the emergency hospital in Kabul (unnamed), as saying that the victims fell after Taliban gunmen in Kabul fired shots in the air;

To celebrate the gains made by the movement in Panjshir.

Minutes after hearing the shooting in Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid instructed the movement's fighters to cease firing in the air and just thank God.

Mujahid added in a tweet on Twitter that "these bullets are more harmful to civilians, so do not shoot unnecessarily."


Negotiations collapse

A source in the Taliban movement told Al-Jazeera on Wednesday evening that the movement decided to launch a large-scale military operation in the state of Panjshir after the failure of negotiations with the leader of the so-called "national resistance", Ahmed Masoud.

According to the source, Masoud presented conditions that the Taliban considers illogical.

These conditions are that the Taliban will not withdraw weapons and military equipment from its forces, that the “popular uprising” be given a 30% share of the composition of the next government, that all officials are appointed with the approval of the “uprising,” and that whoever wants to visit the state of Panjshir is not subject to monitoring and tracking.

The Taliban had previously announced that hundreds of its fighters had gone to the province to control it, after local provincial officials refused to hand it over peacefully.

Ahmed Shah Massoud's son had previously said he hoped to hold peace talks with the movement that took control of Kabul, but stressed that his forces were ready to fight.

Massoud stressed that his supporters are ready to fight if the Taliban tries to invade their territory, adding that they "want to defend and fight, they want to resist any totalitarian regime."

He was joined by Ahmed Masoud, former Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who considers himself the legitimate president of Afghanistan after President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left the country.

Thousands of soldiers from the Afghan army, which collapsed after the withdrawal of US forces and the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, joined Massoud's alliance.