A Taliban official announced that a military recruitment programme has started in Panjshir province.
Qari Hassan Al-Banna, the Taliban’s recruitment official in Panjshir, claimed that dozens of young men have already registered at the Taliban’s base in Bazarak district.
The programme is supposed to be implemented by the Taliban in other provinces of Afghanistan.
Since coming to power last year, the Taliban has been continuously facing resistance in Panjshir province and Andrab district, and these two areas have become the center of resistance against the group.
It seems that the Taliban have devised a new strategy to counter the National Resistance Front (NRF) in Panjshir as the war intensifies in the province.
According to al-Banna, the initiative to recruit local residents of Panjshir to fight for the Taliban has been taken by Qari Fasihuddin, the chief of staff of the Taliban army.
Qari Fasihuddin, one of the known commanders of the Taliban, has claimed that "the entire territory of Panjshir" is under the control of the group and has accused the media of exaggerating the numbers regarding the forces of the resistance front.
However, the National Resistance Front announced that they had repelled "heavy attacks" of the Taliban in different parts of Panjshir on Saturday. The NRF claimed that 32 Taliban members had been killed and 13 others were wounded in the latest battle in Panjshir.
A source told Afghanistan International that the forces of Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir attacked parts of Panjshir province on Sunday, but faced strong resistance from the NRF forces.