Fighting between the Taliban fighters and resistance forces has intensified in the northern province of Panjshir, as the Afghan group battles to take control of the country’s last rebel stronghold.
Residents in nearby areas of neighbouring Parwan province say it has been four days that their lives have been disrupted by the intensified battles between the Taliban and forces being commanded by Ahmad Massoud, the son of slain commander, Ahmad Shah Massoud.
The Taliban leaders say attempts for a negotiated settlement have failed as the group prepares to announce the formation of a new government weeks after they captured power.
“The fighting has gotten worse and worse with each night,” Asadullah, 52, told Al Jazeera. He and other residents of Jab al-Seraj district of Parwan say the fighting is mainly relegated to the mountains, but that most residents have still fled the area.
Increased fighting, residents say, has forced at least 400 families to flee from the villages along the road that would normally lead to Panjshir’s calm, green valleys – about 125km (78 miles) north of the capital, Kabul.
Smoke could be seen billowing from the distant mountain as the Taliban engaged in a battle to take control of the last of the country’s 34 provinces.
Afghan soldiers?
Some residents said in the days leading to the August 15 fall of Kabul, they saw former Afghan National Army soldiers from the provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan, Kapisa, Parwan and Takhar heading towards Panjshir after those provinces fell.
The residents said those soldiers were transporting military vehicles and equipment with them, but with little information coming in and out of Panjshir, it is difficult to verify those claims or to know how much of them have been used in recent days.As has been the case throughout much of the Afghan conflict, women and children flee to nearby cities, in this case, Parwan’s capital Charikar and Kabul itself, while the men stay behind to protect the homes.
Shah Rahman, a resident of Syed Khil district, said his wife and children fled to Kabul three days ago. He returned early on Friday morning to collect their belongings and said he was stopped by the Taliban along the way.
“They check your ID and car registration to make sure you’re from Parwan, and then they let you through,” he said.
Like other Parwanis, Rahman has heard of casualties in Panjshir, but those claims could not be independently verified as the road to Panjshir remains blocked and mobile phone service was cut off last week.
Asadullah says with Panjshir and Parwan long having been two of Afghanistan’s safest provinces, residents are much more startled by fighting than other areas of the country.“These people haven’t lived through real fighting in 20 years and they can’t bear their children crying at night as the bullets and rockets fly,” he said.
Landmines
It’s not just the fighting, happening just a few kilometres from their homes, that keeps them from leaving the house. Two residents referred to claims that the Taliban makes civilians collect fallen Taliban fighters from the mountains.
