The Afghan government said that 40 National Resistance Front militants were killed, including field commanders, and more than 100 others were arrested during a sweep launched by Afghan forces in Panjshir province, north of the capital, Kabul, while the front says the Taliban is exaggerating the numbers.
An Afghan security source told Al-Jazeera on Tuesday that 15 members of the Afghan forces were killed during clashes that took place in separate areas of Panjshir province.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet on Twitter on Tuesday, "As a result of a mopping up operation against the insurgents in Rakh, Dara and Afshar districts in Panjshir province, 40 were killed, including 4 commanders, and 100 others were arrested."
inflate numbers
However, the front said that the Taliban exaggerated the death toll among its fighters, and the French press agency quoted the front's foreign relations official, Ali Nazari, as saying, "We refute the numbers, they exaggerated the numbers," adding that "only a small group" of our members were arrested or killed.
Panjshir Province|
The security services in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan carried out proactive security operations against the ruthless rebels who wanted to disturb the security of the people in the districts of (Rokha - Dara - Abshar), which resulted in the killing of (40) insurgents, including 4 of their leaders (Fahim Kamandu - Jawad - Muhammad Yar - Malik Khan). Arrest (101) and seizing their weapons # Taliban pic.twitter.com/gDFGxTdtBr
— Afghan Affairs (@AfghanAffairs7) September 13, 2022
The son of Ahmed Shah Masoud leads the forces of the National Resistance Front, which announced last May the launch of an attack on the Taliban, its first since the movement took control of power in August 2021.
Dozens of civilians fled the Panjshir Valley (80 km north of Kabul) with the outbreak of the first battles, but calm prevailed in the area in the past weeks, but the battles renewed in the valley in recent days, according to the residents of the area.
Isolated battles have been taking place for months between the National Resistance Forces led by Ahmed Masoud (son of the historical leader Ahmed Shah Massoud) and the ruling Taliban fighters in Kabul.
The movement announced its victory in the state of Panjshir in September 2021, weeks after its control of the capital, Kabul, with the withdrawal of foreign forces.
Since then, the popular resistance says it is carrying out operations in the area and clashing with Taliban fighters, but the Taliban previously denied the outbreak of large-scale fighting, saying that it had imposed its control over the entire country.