How far inside the Panjshir valley have Taliban breached
While the Taliban claim full control over the Panjshir valley in Afghanistan, the National Resistance Front (NRF) supporters have rejected this claim, saying that the NRF fighters will continue to occupy strategic positions in the province.
The Taliban have claimed that they have taken complete control over the Panjshir valley in Afghanistan. However, the National Resistance Front (NRF) supporters have rejected this claim, saying that the NRF fighters will continue to occupy strategic positions in the province.
International journalists travelling to Panjshir have been denied entry by the Taliban and all communication lines including the phone and internet services have been completely cut-off in the area. This has made it extremely difficult to assess the ground situation in the valley.
However, images and videos posted in the public domain by the pro-Taliban accounts have helped to identify the extent of the Taliban breach inside the Panjshir valley.
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Visual media investigators across the world have been using the visual evidence along with open-source satellite imagery and topographic information to geolocate the advances made by the Taliban.
A video posted by the pro-Taliban accounts a day after the US forces withdrew from Afghanistan showed Taliban militia capturing a position purported to be in Panjshir.
Nick Waters, a digital investigator with open-source investigation platform Bellingcat, was the first to identify the location where the video was filmed.
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The topographical features seen in the video matched the terrain of Khawak Pass near the Panjshir valley.
Another visual media investigator named Benjamin has put together an open-source repository of such data that helps track the Taliban movement.
Another video supposedly captured on September 4 and circulated on social media showed the Taliban in control of a mountain pass, overseeing the transit of cars and trucks.
The video was shot at Salang Pass, located approximately 30 km southwest of Panjshir.
On September 6, multiple videos were circulated by the pro-Taliban accounts that established the presence of the Taliban inside Panjshir.
These videos and their geolocation confirm the presence of the Taliban at the Panjshir centre as well as at Bazarak, the provincial capital of Panjshir Province.
One of the videos from September 6 showed Taliban presence almost 37 km inside Panjshir.
Another video from September 6 showed a Taliban convoy and armed men on the streets. The geolocation of this video puts the Taliban at least 60 km inside Panjshir.
THE OTHER SIDE
While the evidence proves the Taliban's presence inside Panjshir, there is still no substantial evidence to demonstrate the Taliban's control over the entire valley.
Supporters of the NRF have said that the fighting between the Taliban and the NRF continues and the Taliban's claim of controlling the entire valley is not true.
Videos and images available in the public domain are not sufficient to independently verify either of the two claims.
The Taliban will need a larger force to control the entire valley than what has been seen in the social media posts so far.
Some NRF supporters have also claimed that they are also getting support from other regions, including Tajik groups after a call was given by the NRF leader Ahmad Massoud.
A complete communication shut down by the Taliban in the region has ensured that the information on NRF activities remains blocked from the rest of the world.