Afghan resistance leaders have fled country, says Taliban media representative

The leadership of the Afghan resistance movement is not in Panjshir but in Turkey, a media representative of the Taliban has said.

"Panjshir does not have internet. How is he (Ahmad Massoud) posting online from there? Ahmad Massoud is in Turkey," said Tariq Ghazniwal, a journalist with the Taliban's official news channel, Alemarah, reports the NDTV.

The assertion came hours after claims and counter-claims over control of the Afghanistan district which has been a stronghold of those opposed to the new regime that took power in the country recently.

"Panjshir is a district. It was surrounded by us. We have drones, but we did not use them there. We used them in Mazhar. Media was not taking interest in Afghanistan, so it has limited information," Ghazniwal, also known as Abdul Wahid Rayyan said.

The Panjshir valley lies in the Hindu Kush mountains, approximately 90 miles north of Kabul. Since the fall of the capital on 15 August, it has remained the pocket of resistance where forces led by former Vice-President Amarullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, son of former Afghan guerrilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

The Taliban today claimed they had won the key battle for the Valley.

"We tried to talk and take them along, like in the rest of Afghanistan. But some people in Panjshir were not ready. They were influenced from outside. We waited for 15 days. Our mujahideen waited outside the gates but they did not agree. So we were compelled to attack," said Ghazniwal.

The National Resistance Front, however, has said it was present in "strategic positions" across the valley and that "the struggle against the Taliban and their partners will continue", according to an AFP report.