CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Panjshir (Dari: , literally “Five Lions, ” also spelled as Panjsher) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country containing the Panjshir Valley. The province is divided into seven districts and contains 512 villages.

Detailed explanation-2: -When the Taliban swept into Kabul in summer 2021 and the Afghan military melted away, a small band of fighters in the Panjshir held out for weeks. The Taliban claimed to have taken full control of the valley in September, but spokesmen for the National Resistance Front say they never surrendered.

Detailed explanation-3: -“In terms of control of geographical areas, in Panjshir, which has dozens of sub-valleys, the NRF forces have the upper hand, and the Taliban control only the Panjshir main valley and its road, which is the only road to and from Panjshir, and the provincial office is also located there.

Detailed explanation-4: -It was the site of the Panjshir offensives fought by the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviets against the mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1980 to 1985, when local commander Ahmad Shah Massoud successfully defended the valley.

Detailed explanation-5: -Panjshir was a bastion of anti-Taliban resistance during the group’s first stint in power in the 1990s. In recent days, fighters belonging to the National Resistance Front launched a guerrilla attack on Taliban forces in the area, who responded by sending a large number of reinforcements to Panjshir.