As air evacuations continue in a chaotic atmosphere at Kabul airport, the ruling Taliban announced on Sunday the launch of a major offensive against the only area that still resists them, the Panshir valley.
"Hundreds of mujahedin in the Islamic Emirate are heading to Panshir state to control it after local officials have refused to hand it over peacefully," the Taliban said on their Arabic Twitter account.
The Taliban entered Kabul on August 15 without encountering resistance, following a lightning offensive that began in May after the start of the withdrawal of American and NATO forces.
A pocket of resistance has formed in the Panshir valley, northeast of Kabul, long known as an anti-Taliban stronghold.
This National Resistance Front (FNR) is notably led by Ahmad Massoud, son of Commander Ahmed Shah Massoud, assassinated in 2001 by Al-Qaeda.
The "Lion of Panshir"
FNR spokesman Ali Maisam Nazary told AFP that the Front was preparing for "a long-lasting conflict" with the Taliban.
According to him, thousands of Afghans have joined the Panshir valley to fight the new regime.
Photos taken by AFP during training exercises show armored vehicles driving through the valley.
“The Taliban will not last if they continue like this. We are ready to defend Afghanistan and we are warning against a bloodbath, ”Massoud told Al-Arabiya channel on Sunday. In 1997 Ahmed Shah Massoud, legendary warlord nicknamed "The lion of Panshir", blew up the Salang tunnel, built during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979-1989), thus closing the front door of the valley from the south. Despite numerous attempts, the Taliban had never succeeded in seizing Panshir.