Taliban resistance fighters get SAS-style training in secret mountain fortress

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2 years ago

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Afghan resistance fighters are honing their skills SAS-style in a mountain fortress as they pledged to crush the Taliban.

The 'Lions of Panjshir' were seen balancing wooden logs on their shoulders while wading through water as they built up their strength while awaiting the arrival of enemy forces.

The Panjshir Valley, located in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan, is the last region in the country holding out against the Taliban, the Sun reports.

Resistance military forces have also been seen carrying weapons and marching through the mountains.

Hundreds of anti-Taliban fighters, known as the Northern Alliance, have vowed to crush the jihadi rulers and defend the 170,000 residents of the valley.

Taliban forces are now prominent in the rest of Afghanistan, with more than 17,000 people being evacuated from the country in the last fortnight.

But it was claimed that the Taliban beat a hasty retreat from the Panjshir Valley after an embarrassing defeat by the Afghan resistance forces.

Ali Nazary, head of foreign relations for a coalition of anti-Taliban groups, told the Financial Times that opposition fighters had defeated the Taliban in the region.

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He said: "They were trying to attack Panjshir, but they were unable to do that."

Amrullah Saleh, the vice president of the toppled government who claims to be the acting president after Ashraf Ghani fled, called on Taliban enemies to gather in the valley.

He wrote on Twitter: "Join the resistance. I will never, ever and under no circumstances bow to Talib terrorists."

The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed there had been no fighting in Panjshir yet, adding that the Taliban are hoping to find a peaceful resolution.

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It is believed that the Northern Alliance are being sponsored by its neighbouring country Tajikistan after a picture showed a Tajik helicopter land in the valley.

In a tweet from the resistance movement's social media account, they said: "Earlier in the morning, resistance forces got a first support from Tajikistan helicopters have imported enough equipment, guns, full-ammunitions & foods.

"The morale of the resistance is high. We are grateful to our neighbour for all the support they started since (the) beginning."

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