Afghan Resistance forces’ last bastion in balance amid heavy fighting

Heavy fighting reportedly continuing between Taliban forces and fighters loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley - the last bastion against Taliban control.

Taliban sources told Reuters news agency that they had seized the area, but the resistance fighters they are battling denied this.

Batting each side saying it had inflicted heavy casualties in recent days of combat in the last province resisting Taliban rule, report BBC.

One of the resistance leaders, Amrullah Saleh, dismissed claims he had fled, but said the situation was "difficult".

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.

Panjshir Valley, north of the capital Kabul, is one of Afghanistan's smallest provinces and the only one yet to have fallen to the Taliban.

Following the fall of Kabul on Aug. 15, several thousand fighters from local militias and the remnants of army and Special Forces units have massed in Panjshir.

The traditional anti-Taliban stronghold is home to somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 people, and is hidden behind mountain peaks.

The resistance - which includes former Afghan security force members and local militias - is led by local tribal leader Ahmad Massoud. His father successfully fought the Soviets who invaded in the 1980s, and the Taliban in the 1990s.

Mr Saleh, a former vice-president of Afghanistan, told BBC that there had been casualties on both sides.

"There is no doubt we are in a difficult situation. We are under invasion by the Taliban," he said.

But he added: "We will not surrender, we are standing for Afghanistan."

Ali Nazari, a spokesperson for the National Resistance Front (NRF) fighters, told BBC World News that the rebels had pushed the Taliban on the back foot.

"There are well over a few hundred Taliban who are trapped. And they are running out of munitions and they are negotiating terms of surrender right now," he said.

But Taliban officials have been claiming victory in the area, with one commander telling Reuters news agency: "By the grace of Allah Almighty, we are in control of the entire Afghanistan. The troublemakers have been defeated and Panjshir is now under our command."

The Taliban are now in control of the rest of the country, and are expected to announce a new government in the coming days.