Taliban resistance once again lies in the hands of Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley
Fox News
The Taliban’s virtually unopposed march into Kabul completed their 20-year struggle against the United States and its Afghan partners in retaking the country they lost in December 2001. While the central government led by President Ashraf Ghani fled in fear and the military crumbled with little support, a nascent resistance movement against the Taliban’s rule is already underway.
Among the resistance leaders is Ahmad Massoud, son of Afghan Mujahideen hero Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was assassinated by al Qaeda days before the 9/11 terror attacks. Shah Massoud was integral to the Mujahideen rebels who fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and became a leading figure in the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance that resisted the Taliban’s reign from 1996 to 2001. The Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul, was a hotbed of anti-Taliban sentiment prior to 2001. Rebels in the strategically important valley provided U.S. special forces and the CIA with critical intelligence which helped launch the invasion of Afghanistan and ultimately drove the Taliban from power within two months. Now, 20 years later, it might once again become the center of the latest iteration of the resistance movement.More Related News