Asia

Taliban Says It Has Taken Control of Strategically Important Area of Defiant Panjshir Province

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A strategically important area of the defiant Panjshir province, Khenj, and the Anaba district have fallen to the Taliban*, the movement's spokesman Bilal Karimi said on Saturday.
Sputnik
"The latest news says that Khenj, the most strategic area of Panjshir, and the Anaba area near the provincial capital have also been completely seized, leaving only the main building of the Abshar district," Karimi said.
Now, the Taliban has taken control of four districts of the province, he said, adding the militants are heading towards the provincial centre.
On Friday, Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said that the Panjshir had come under Taliban control.
On Thursday, media reported, citing a Taliban source, that the Taliban had decided to launch a military operation against the Resistance Front forces in Panjshir province after the failure of negotiations with the leader of the resistance, Ahmad Massoud.
In early August, the Taliban intensified their offensive against government forces in Afghanistan, and on 15 August, the Taliban entered the capital and took control of the presidential palace, and the next day announced that the war in Afghanistan was over.
The seizure of power by the Taliban took place against the backdrop of the withdrawal of US troops, which ended on the night of 31 August. 
*A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
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