The Taliban say they have taken control of the last Afghan province rejecting their rule, but local resistance fighters deny it

Afghan resistance movement and anti-Taliban uprising forces take part in a military training at Dara district in Panjshir province on September 2, 2021.

AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN/AFP via Getty Images

• The Taliban claimed control of Panjshir, the last province resisting their Afghanistan takeover.
• But local resistance fighters denied the Taliban's claim and say they're still fighting.
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The Taliban say they have seized control of the last province in Afghanistan that was holding out against their rule, though local resistance fighters said this wasn't true.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid that the Panjshir province had been "completely conquered" after weeks of fighting an anti-Taliban resistance group, CNN reported. Seizing Panjshir would mean total Taliban control over Afghanistan.

But Ali Maisam, a spokesman for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), told the BBC: "The Taliban haven't captured Panjshir I am rejecting Taliban claims."

The group said it is still in "all strategic positions" and "continue to fight," the BBC reported.

Between 150,000 and 200,000 people live in Panjshir, the BBC reported.

Unverified photos on social media showed Taliban fighters standing in front of the compound for the province's governor.

Ali Nazary, another NRF spokesman, did not deny that the Taliban had seized the center of Panjshir.

But he said that the NRF has control of other parts of the province: "Most of Bazarak district and all the side valleys are controlled by the NRF."

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