Taliban claim to have captured 8 districts of Panjshir, fighting underway in provincial capital

Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi claimed that the insurgents had seized control of all eight districts in Panjshir with the exception of Bazarak, where fighting is underway.

Claims of capture and pushback flew on Sunday as the Taliban and resistance forces continued to battle in the Panjshir valley of Afghanistan, the only province that has not capitulated to the Islamist insurgents. . . . The Taliban said their fighters had entered Bazarak, the capital of Panjshir, even as the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA) claimed they had inflicted heavy casualties on the militants and driven them back from multiple fronts.