Afghan government collapse.

[NOVA Green]

Hate to cross-post from my recent post on the "Sewer Board", but looks like we now have conformation from US Military that (5)-(6) civilians died.

Naturally I still have questions on "where the Intel came from" for the US drone strikes or if it might have been deliberately supplied from various hostile actors, but F**K this is not what the US should be doing, even though sometimes the folx running remote centers might have last minute decisions to do before they give the order, but yeah--- still would exactly be the def of a "bad day at work" for the team that made the decision on the US side.

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=461200.msg8227774#msg8227774

[NOVA Green]

Breaking News:

New rocket strikes in Kabul apparently fired from a vehicle towards the airport and then following a retaliatory fire....


https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/aug/30/afghanistan-live-news-kabul-taliban-latest-updates-airport-attack-islamic-state-isis-k-us-drone-strike-civilians-children-killed-deaths-reported

[Ⓐnarchy in the ☭☭☭P!]

Hate to cross-post from my recent post on the "Sewer Board", but looks like we now have conformation from US Military that (5)-(6) civilians died.

Naturally I still have questions on "where the Intel came from" for the US drone strikes or if it might have been deliberately supplied from various hostile actors, but F**K this is not what the US should be doing, even though sometimes the folx running remote centers might have last minute decisions to do before they give the order, but yeah--- still would exactly be the def of a "bad day at work" for the team that made the decision on the US side.

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=461200.msg8227774#msg8227774

I don't think I can put into words how much it infuriates me when American media outlets have the gall to talk about the "humanitarian mission" of Afghanistan while using any excuse to brush off the mass slaughter of innocents.

Blow up kids? Well, guns were found in the area so they were actually armed insurgents!

Blow up an entire wedding? Well, one of the attendees was a known terrorist so by associative property that means they must have all been dangerous terrorists!

Blow up whole families after claiming "no civilian casualties"? Well it must be because the dastardly terrorists loaded their vehicle with Wile E. Coyote levels of TNT!

No critical analysis, no asking questions like whether it's possible that the professional lying spies at the CIA or the professional ass coverers at the DOD might not give us the straight truth, just parroting whatever they're told by the local functionary of the American Empire. So much for the "free press".

It hasn't even been established that the victims were "ISIS planners" at all. Of the two possible "terrorists" one was an interpreter who worked with the US and the other was a former ANA officer. It's not impossible that they were secretly ISK leaders who were caught at the last second but I'm going to need a hell of a lot more than "don't worry they were totally evil terrorists guys" from the people who brought us yellowcake, "Iran is five years away from nuclear weapons" and the Libyan Civil War.

Even assuming that much, it doesn't follow that therefore the only option is to obliterate at least a half dozen innocents with a missile. It's like responding to a hostage situation by immediately shooting the hostage and acting like there's no alternative.

The logic of the attack was basically summed up by the people responding to the news with pictures of the dead Marines from the airport attack. I'm rarely disgusted by tweets but the idea that the blood of innocents is somehow payback for the lives of those Marines genuinely disgusts me to my core. The idea that the blood of Americans should be repaid with the blood of random foreigners is the single worst mainstream idea, and it's exactly what got America into this whole mess back in 2001.

Only slightly better are the people brushing this all off because of partisanship. I never thought the responsibility for the disaster of a withdrawal fell on Biden and his willingness to stick to the withdrawal despite the media pressure improved my opinion of him but this drone strike is like the swan song of 20 disastrous years of American imperialism. Meanwhile the very same stooges who talk about how much they care about Afghan refugees don't care that the entire family of one of those interpreters was blown up seemingly so Biden could act tough because the Biden Administration looking bad is worse than mass murder.

"Oh well people won't care in a few weeks nobody cares about Afghanistan" - Well maybe you should care

EDIT: really sums it up

https://twitter.com/MazMHussain/status/1432083953750626312

[Silent Hunter]

If it's a choice between killing nine people as "collateral damage" in a drone strike and letting that vehicle kill possibly ninety people in a suicide bombing, then you would go for the former. Although of course, you wouldn't sleep very well at night afterwards.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

If it's a choice between killing nine people as "collateral damage" in a drone strike and letting that vehicle kill possibly ninety people in a suicide bombing, then you would go for the former. Although of course, you wouldn't sleep very well at night afterwards.

I think there are few people are against such a trade-off. In theory.


The reasons why one might questions it:

• Quality of intelligence.
• Lack of transparency and accountability.
• Doubts, if US really tries hard enough to minimize a "collateral damage".

It's like (but many times worse than) mass-surveillance, exposed by Snowden. In theory only bad guys are truly effected, huh?


https://www.atomicheritage.org/key-documents/stimson-bomb

We estimated that if we should be forced to carry this plan to its conclusion, the major fighting would not end until the latter part of 1946, at the earliest. I was informed that such operations might be expected to cost over a million casualties, to American forces alone. Additional large losses might be expected among our allies, and, of course, if our campaign were successful and if we could judge by previous experience, enemy casualties would be much larger than our own.

[Ⓐnarchy in the ☭☭☭P!]

If it's a choice between killing nine people as "collateral damage" in a drone strike and letting that vehicle kill possibly ninety people in a suicide bombing, then you would go for the former. Although of course, you wouldn't sleep very well at night afterwards.

Why are we assuming that the nonsensical cover story is accurate at this point? They refuse to identify the supposed "ISK planners" they were targeting and I've seen zero evidence so far that the car was actually laden with explosives. It looks more likely that they blew up an innocent family on bad intel.

Hitler and Stalin could only wish people in their day were as gullible as people today. They could have just claimed all the people they slaughtered were actually super deadly terrorists and apparently the average Westerner just goes "oh well gee guess they just had to make a tough call"

[Mr. Morden]

The US has left the airport:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/30/afghanistan-update-last-us-troops-leave-kabul-ending-evacuation.html

The United States finished its withdrawal efforts from Kabul’s airport, the Pentagon said Monday, effectively ending a 20-year conflict that began not long after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The last C-17 military cargo aircraft departed Hamid Karzai International Airport Monday afternoon, according to U.S. Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, completing a massive evacuation effort that flew more than 116,000 people out of Afghanistan over the past two weeks.

“While the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional U.S. citizens and eligible Afghans who want to leave continues,” added McKenzie, who oversees the U.S. military mission in the region.

[NOVA Green]

Initial reports are trickling in of clashes between TB fighters and rebels allied with Massoud and Saleh in (or near) Panjshir province.

This includes early reports are from pro TB and anti-TB Social media sites, but not more spurious sources such as some Indian media outlets.

Internet has been limited or intermittent in and around Panjshir for the past couple days as TB have attempted to restrict access.

https://twitter.com/bsarwary/status/1432422761452953612?s=20

[NOVA Green]

Another story I was planning on posting here Yesterday but got a bit sidetracked with other events on the ground.

It's looking like Atta Noor and Dostum are negotiating with the Taliban through Khalid Noor (Atta's son):

https://www.voanews.com/us-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal/veteran-afghan-strongmen-form-new-front-negotiating-taliban

Both fled to Uzbekistan following the "negotiated surrender" of Mazar-e-Sharif, along with a significant amount of ANA and US supplied assets.

For anyone not familiar with either of these two individuals, here are brief wiki links to get you up to speed on their historical and current relevancy when it comes to Afghanistan:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atta_Muhammad_Nur

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rashid_Dostum

A new Wall Street Journal exclusive report dated 8/30/21 has additional information regarding apparent pressure by the Uzbek Government:

[size=12
pt]Uzbekistan Warns U.S. That Afghan Pilots and Their Families Can’t Stay[/size]

An Afghan pilot’s U.S. relatives seek help, as U.S.-trained airmen are caught in a diplomatic tussle

WASHINGTON—Facing Taliban pressure, Uzbekistan has warned the U.S. that a group of highly trained Afghan pilots who fled there two weeks ago aboard Afghan Air Force helicopters and airplanes face expulsion from the country, officials say.

Uzbekistan is urging Washington to act quickly to take the pilots to a third country to avoid inflaming relations with the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, these officials say. Uzbekistan has maintained relations with the group for years while carefully hedging between powers vying for influence in Afghanistan.

The U.S. effort to train and build an Afghan air force was among the most celebrated programs in support of the country’s military. The U.S. spent billions of dollars on the air force, including on training, maintenance and the supply of dozens of helicopters and planes.

....

Some Afghan pilots flew themselves to safety with hundreds of family members and colleagues aboard 46 Afghan Air Force helicopters and planes. These pilots are among the Taliban’s most hated enemies because of their role in airstrikes that inflicted high numbers of casualties during the decadeslong conflict. The Taliban also have called on Uzbekistan to return the aircraft to Afghanistan.

....

https://www.wsj.com/articles/uzbekistan-warns-u-s-that-afghan-pilots-and-their-families-cant-stay-11630315800

Don't want to exceed my quote count from my paid subscription, so anyone interested it's really inexpensive to get a WSJ online subscription for a year for the equivalent of one micro-brew at a bar a month, so please support quality journalism by forking over a few $$$ here and there, instead of expecting to get everything for free.

Still--- bottom line this is very much on the radar of Blinken and others, but any way you look at, doesn't appear there will be any type of "new Northern Alliance" developing that includes an Uzbek component.....

[NOVA Green]

Again, back to Afghan domestic politics themselves vs all of the other news which tends to dominate US Cabal and MSM news sources...

Reports of clashes between TB and Hazara going on in rural areas of Central Afghanistan today from multiple online Hazara accounts:

Again, although we need to be wary of potential disinformation in what is a very difficult area to get reports from (Much more difficult than urban areas within Afghanistan), these reports do not appear to be originating from Indian Intel Operations or others seeking to spread disinformation.

It is entirely plausible that local Talibs (w/o) central command and control are attempting to conduct house to house searches for weapons (as in other areas within Afghanistan) and being met with local resistance and things got a bit out of hand.

IDK: Still, considering the past Taliban history when it comes to Human Rights Abuses against the Hazaras, it is still noteworthy, since basically most of rural Afghanistan is an NRA "Gun Nut Paradise", as well as sometimes local disputes over tribal property rights, etc... make the Hatfields and McCoys look like they were handling grudges in a "civilized manner"....

https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1432377988159614978?s=20

This is in Daykundi Province (Pop 516k), which is an overwhelmingly majority Hazara region , which was split off from Uruzgan Province in 2004 (Which some of you old timers or those been following Afghanistan History and politics for awhile might recall as the potentially a childhood origin of the original Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, as well as one of his rumored locations following the US overthrow of the Taliban Government after 9/11/01.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daykundi_Province

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Omar

I had previously reported of alleged clashes between TB and Hazara militias led by Commander Abdul Ghani Alipur in Wardak Province Afghanistan about a week ago:

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=453801.msg8220748#msg8220748

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=453801.msg8222092#msg8222092

[WMS]

Again, back to Afghan domestic politics themselves vs all of the other news which tends to dominate US Cabal and MSM news sources...

Reports of clashes between TB and Hazara going on in rural areas of Central Afghanistan today from multiple online Hazara accounts:

Again, although we need to be wary of potential disinformation in what is a very difficult area to get reports from (Much more difficult than urban areas within Afghanistan), these reports do not appear to be originating from Indian Intel Operations or others seeking to spread disinformation.

It is entirely plausible that local Talibs (w/o) central command and control are attempting to conduct house to house searches for weapons (as in other areas within Afghanistan) and being met with local resistance and things got a bit out of hand.

IDK: Still, considering the past Taliban history when it comes to Human Rights Abuses against the Hazaras, it is still noteworthy, since basically most of rural Afghanistan is an NRA "Gun Nut Paradise", as well as sometimes local disputes over tribal property rights, etc... make the Hatfields and McCoys look like they were handling grudges in a "civilized manner"....

https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1432377988159614978?s=20

This is in Daykundi Province (Pop 516k), which is an overwhelmingly majority Hazara region , which was split off from Uruzgan Province in 2004 (Which some of you old timers or those been following Afghanistan History and politics for awhile might recall as the potentially a childhood origin of the original Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, as well as one of his rumored locations following the US overthrow of the Taliban Government after 9/11/01.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daykundi_Province

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Omar

I had previously reported of alleged clashes between TB and Hazara militias led by Commander Abdul Ghani Alipur in Wardak Province Afghanistan about a week ago:

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=453801.msg8220748#msg8220748

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=453801.msg8222092#msg8222092

If the U.S. had an actually talented psyops crew, it could cause considerable heartburn for the Iranian regime over this. Iranians do NOT like the Taliban, particularly over the Hazara massacres, and there is a lot of popular opposition to the hardliners selling out fellow Shi’a to the Taliban. If the Iranian regime is actually helping the Taliban hunt down Hazara…well, maybe the Israelis can do something useful with this.

[2952-0-0]

It took 10 years for the Soviets to cut losses and walk away from the quagmire.

But, it took twice as long for the US to do the same.

Apparently, the US was twice as stagnant and sclerotic than the Soviet Union during its terminal decline. That's staggering to think about.

[NOVA Green]

This almost sounds like a joke, but once again showcases the economic corruption under the Ghani regime...

Looks like the US Citizen was on the take and milking the Afghani population dry.... although if you actually read the last article linked at the bottom of this post, might actually have been much less corrupt than most others within the Ghani Administration, and honestly doesn't sound like that bad a guy. (Fascinating Article and honestly probably hits home to many Afghan-Americans who tried to return home to help rebuild their country post 9/11/01).


https://twitter.com/Stanikzaiii/status/1432343382014185480?s=20

https://um.fi/documents/35732/0/2020_Afghanistan_Conference_PPPs_side_meeting_Concept_note_16_Nov_BIO.pdf/cca9581f-3e00-d8b5-3211-b7f36c69e3ea?t=1605594232276

https://thefrontierpost.com/australian-mining-giant-eyes-mineral-wealth/

https://invest.gov.af/2021/05/06/news/

https://psmag.com/social-justice/the-american-candidate

[Crumpets]

https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1432786147705511942

[NOVA Green]

So a few updates from a couple stories I covered Yesterday regarding clashes in the Panjshir region, as well as Daykundi, confirming some of the earlier reports.

Panjshir:

Fahim Dashti (spokesperson for the Panjshiri National Resistance Front (NRF) claimed that 7-8 Taliban Fighters were killed and 2 NRF members wounded. Another source indicates that one NRF fighter Noorzai died in the clashes.

https://twitter.com/TOLOnews/status/1432618201930686464?s=20

https://twitter.com/cnni/status/1432699511135260688?s=20

Based upon different reports, it looks like there might actually have been multiple clashes, one towards the Northern entrance to the Valley around Khawak Pass which is on the border of Baghlan and Panjshir province (CNN report) and the other to the south around Gulbahar, which is much further to the South on the Parwan and Kipisa Province borders.  

....Communication with the mountainous region has been sporadic, but a commander fighting against the Taliban told CNN that forces fighting the militant group had managed to repel a Taliban assault.

"In the Khawak Pass area that connects to Panjshir, heavy fighting is going on," the commander said. "We didn’t have internet until just now. The resistance forces are in Puli Hisar and clashes continue. The Taliban have hundreds of casualties.”....

“There was a gentlemen's agreement that no side would attack but they tried to attack and enter Panjshir yesterday from the south and north," said Ali Nazary, spokesperson for the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF). "Fortunately, the NRF's forces repelled the attacks and set a few of their armored vehicles on fire. The Taliban forces that came from Gulbahar retreated to Charikar city.”

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-us-news-08-31-21/h_e4b3e58c59703103b706a1a52505a680?utm_source=twCNNi&utm_term=link&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2021-08-31T13%3A39%3A15

There is some footage which has been shared on Social Media purportedly from the aftermath of clashes in Gulbahar, which presumably is where the claims of (7) Taliban fighters dead comes from.

https://twitter.com/MuslimShirzad/status/1432620955009011713?s=20

I'm not going to post the footage from the alleged battle in the Khawak Pass area, which the NRF had provided to Mr. Shirzad, since that has already been fact checked and appears is actually having been from Yemen (?) several years back.

So again, I want to caution folks from automatically buying into all images and reports posted in combat areas, since there is also a propaganda war going on between pro-TB and Anti-TB sources.

NOTE: TB has confirmed clashes in Panjshir, so it's not like there haven't been some casualties on both sides, but generally I would tend to err on the side of caution and go with lower casualty numbers vs some of the outrageous numbers floating around elsewhere.

Daykundi:

Information more limited, but Taliban Police chief for Daikundi denied in a statement to Nasim Radio that former Gvt soldiers and civilians had been killed.

Other reports are that TB fighters in Daikundi were led by pro-Iran Hazara Warlord who just recently joined the Taliban:

https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1432657968378564610?s=20

https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1432658289125466114?s=20

[NOVA Green]

Lest we forget about the atrocious Human Rights record under the previous Taliban Government, and despite the fact that the worst atrocities and nightmare scenarios which so many in the Western Media have not really manifested, the new Afghan Government (Once it is announced) will have to deal with Human Rights issues if they want an semblance of being a "legitimate government".

I first saw this report a few days ago from Baghlan Province (Andarabi District) which is a place that I have previously posted about on this very thread after local tribal members had taken up arms after Taliban house-to-house searches.

Now, the story is starting to grow about the death of a much beloved Afghan Folk Singer Fawad Andarabi.... RIP. 

Here are just a few reports:

https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/taliban-executes-singer-afghanistan-fawad-andarabi/

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/08/29/Taliban-brutally-killed-Afghan-folk-singer-Fawad-Andarabi-Former-minister

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1432523568231981058?s=20

https://twitter.com/UNSRCulture/status/1431689088508305409?s=20

Here is a song he plays using a traditional local instrument, playing a song (Which I believe is about his homeland).

[NOVA Green]

Afghan Taliban are now claiming that since they defeated NATO, "ISIS-K" is Next.

We defeated Nato’s armies — Isis-K is next, boast Taliban

It was interrogation time for the six Islamic State prisoners, and access to see them was denied. The Taliban CID chief supervising their detention, bearing an American bullet wound to his leg and shrapnel injuries from French airstrikes to his head and back, seemed confident they would crack.

“Four are Afghans but it seems the other two are Malaysian,” said Maulawi Saifullah Mohammed, 28, whose men captured the six in a gun battle on the western side of Kabul on Thursday night. “They aren’t as tough as they think they are. We’ve just beaten the armies from 36 Nato countries so we know we can capture and kill the Daesh (Isis) wherever we find them.”

....

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/we-defeated-nato-s-armies-isis-k-is-next-boast-taliban-lmwr7rqbn

Interestingly enough, Thursday Night was the Night where ISKP conducted the assault against the Kabul Airport.

I had reported at the time from multiple Social Media sites regarding massive gunfire being reported in West Kabul, well outside of the airport zone.

Looks like maybe the TB had conducted significant military activities against ISKP cells, and now we might be seeing some of the follow-up reports, from one of the odder events from last Thursday.

[NOVA Green]

WSJ has an interesting article out today:

People can say whatever they want to about their Editorial Pages & Op-Eds over the decades, but they've always had a pretty solid News Team, in many cases well aside from various economic types of coverage.

In Leaving Afghanistan, U.S. Reshuffles Global Power Relations

The American withdrawal creates new complications for China and Russia

After Afghanistan’s U.S.-backed government collapsed on Aug. 15, Beijing couldn’t contain its glee at what it described as the humiliation of its main global rival—even though Washington said a big reason for withdrawal was its decision to focus more resources on China.

In a briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying highlighted the death of Zaki Anwari, a 17-year-old Afghan soccer player who fell from the landing gear of an American C-17 as it took off from Kabul airport. “American myth down,” she said. “More and more people are awakening.”

In Russia, too, state media overflowed with schadenfreude, albeit tempered by concern about the Afghan debacle’s spillover into its fragile Central Asian allies. “The moral of the story is: don’t help the Stars and Stripes,” tweeted Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of Russia’s RT broadcaster. “They’ll just hump you and dump you.”

But now that America’s 20-year Afghan war has come to an end, the gloating is turning to a more sober view of how the war and the withdrawal will affect the global balance of power.

The stunning meltdown of the U.S.’s Afghan client state marked the limits of American hard power. The dramatic scenes of despair in Kabul have frustrated and angered many American allies, particularly in Europe, inflicting considerable reputational damage.

....

And unlike Russia and China, countries in Afghanistan’s immediate neighborhood, America is far more removed from the direct consequences of the Taliban takeover, from refugee flows to terrorism to the drug trade. Managing Afghanistan from now on is increasingly a problem for Moscow and Beijing, and their regional allies.

....

https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghanistan-u-s-withdrawal-china-russia-power-relations-11630421715

Sorry long article, but still I don't want to overquote, but definitely worth a dime or two since it does seem to have some perspectives about how the end of US influence in Afghanistan is being viewed from a few other regional powers.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Afghanistan: Female journalist who interviewed Taliban flees country

Beheshta Arghand, an anchor for Tolo News, made headlines when she interviewed the Taliban just days after they took control of Afghanistan.

Two weeks later, she has fled the country amid fears for her life.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-58401364

[NOVA Green]

Further reporting of clashes between TB and Anti-TB today (Wednesday in Afghanistan) in multiple provinces in Afghanistan (So this would be in addition to the info I posted Yesterday.

This includes Panjshir, Wardak, Daikundi, as well as in Parwan Province.

Again: As is frequently the case in combat areas there is always some "fog of war" going on, as well as various actors attempting to spin events for various reasons, so we need to be careful assessing information and just because someone is claiming "XYZ casualties on the other side", "Seizure of territory ABC on the other side" needs to be taken with a bit of care, especially without multiple sources of verification.


Panjshir:

TB are claiming to have taken the Shotul District in Panjshir, which seems a bit unlikely considering the lack of any supporting evidence.

Pro-TB outlets have posted some various new clips on social media claiming to be from Panjshir, although generally lacking in any type of combat footage. There are a few new clips from pro NRF sites presenting an alternative perspective of one of the clashes.


There are a few photos floating around of what appear to be several deceased Anti-TB fighters and TB fighters.

(Not going to post any of these here).

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the NRF, Fahim Dashti is claiming that in the past two days, the TB attacked Panjshir from two directions from Andarabi Province, and repulsed the attack with a total of 40 TB dead and 30 Wounded.

https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1433084152266510340?s=20

There are also multiple reports of clashes that took place in the Gulabahar area of Parwan Province, with a small number of casualties.

https://twitter.com/bsarwary/status/1432991368943710209?s=20

Based upon the relatively small number of total casualties reported by both TB and Anti-TB sources, it's not really looking like we are talking about full-blown clashes, but more like skirmishing for control of strategic outposts on hillsides and mountaintops around Panjshir Province.

Regarding Wardak & Daikundi Provinces there is less information out there, but it appears that some of the information that I posted a little bit over a week ago (Link Below), regarding clashes between militia loyal to the Hazara Warlord Commander Abdul Ghani Alipur is now confirmed in that his militia is actively fighting against TB military formations.

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=453801.msg8220748#msg8220748

Here is a Wall Street Journal news article from today, which has a few relevant items specific to ongoing clashes between TB and Anti-TB Afghan Military factions:

Clashes flared in northern and central Afghanistan between the Taliban and local militias on Wednesday, as the Islamist movement continued to consolidate its grip on power in the Afghan capital two days after the U.S. ended its 20-year presence in the country.

....

The Taliban said they had captured the Shotul district in Panjshir, making gains in the sole Afghan province that the militant group hasn’t captured. Panjshir is home to a resistance movement led by the son of a famous commander from the anti-Taliban struggle of the 1990s.

Fighting continued in the valley throughout Wednesday with casualties on both sides, though the exact toll wasn’t clear. The Italian-run Emergency Hospital in Kabul, which treats civilian war wounded, said it had received four patients from Gulbahar in Panjshir who were dead on arrival, and five injured patients.

...

Sporadic clashes also continued in the provinces of Wardak and Daikundi, which are home to large groups of Hazaras, a mostly Shiite minority, who have formed armed militias.

“The situation is very unstable and volatile. We, the resistance group, have moved to valleys in the mountains and our relationship with the Taliban is getting worse,” said Asadullah Asadi, a spokesman for militia leader Abdul Ghani Alipur in the Behsud district of Wardak. “The Taliban wanted us to surrender, which is not acceptable for us.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-battle-opposition-militias-wield-new-power-in-kabul-11630495864

The Jerusalem Post has an article out today, which also provides an additional perspective and translates some of the report from the NRF spokesperson:

....

Fahim Dashti, a spokesman for the National Resistance Forces, a group loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud, said the fighting occurred on the western entrance to the valley where the Taliban attacked NRF positions.

He said the attack, which may have been a probe to test the valley's defenses, was repulsed with eight Taliban killed and a similar number wounded, while two members of the NRF forces were wounded.
"Last night, the Taliban attacked Panjshir, but were defeated with 7 dead and several wounded," Bismillah Mohammadi, a member of the resistance movement who served as a minister under exiled President Ashraf Ghani, said in a tweet.

....

It was not immediately possible to reach a Taliban spokesman for comment.

....

https://www.jpost.com/international/eight-taliban-killed-by-resistance-fighters-in-panjshir-678233

[NOVA Green]

Afghanistan: Female journalist who interviewed Taliban flees country

Beheshta Arghand, an anchor for Tolo News, made headlines when she interviewed the Taliban just days after they took control of Afghanistan.

Two weeks later, she has fled the country amid fears for her life.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-58401364

This is very unfortunate, although perhaps not surprising.

I remember reading an interview with the owner of TOLO TV a couple weeks back where he was assessing the potential future for free and independent journalism in Afghanistan not that many days after the Taliban had effectively just strolled into Kabul.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/08/18/afghanistan-media-taliban-future-505948

He also posted an Op-Ed in the Washington Post that same day:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/18/tolo-news-afghanistan-taliban-journalism/

He had an interview on 8/23 where he described his female employee staffing situation

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/taliban-in-afghanistan-tolo-news-slightly-surprised-were-still-on-air-saad-mohseni-owner-of-afghanistans-tolo-news-2516699

NYT posted a story about ToloTV a few days back:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/world/afghanistan-tolo-taliban.html

It does sound that regardless if the Taliban shuts down TOLO TV completely, that Mr. Mohseni is committed to and will continue to provide media content to the Afghan Population, even if they are based out of a more liberal Arab Gulf State and have their content only accessible via cell phones to those willing to take the risk of having "forbidden materials" discovered on their mobile devices in a country where technology has become much more prevalent and accessible than it was 20 years ago when the Taliban were last in power.

[NOVA Green]

New reports from pro-TB sources are now claiming that there was fighting Tonight (Right now it something like 5 AM in Afghanistan) in Parian District of Panjshir, with forces attacking from Badakhshan Province.

This is in the NE part of Panjshir and if so, would represent another front in the Taliban-NRF war in Afghanistan, other than those previously reported.

[NOVA Green]

So for anyone interested in a broad visual of where clashes have been reported and mostly confirmed by both TB and Anti-TB (NRF) forces around Panjshir, here's a map, which effectively shows where the current five fronts are located.

I have no idea who these people are, what their motivations are, or anything of that nature, but they are sharing a map which appears to correspond with roughly the current theater of combat.

Interestingly enough they claim that there is still NRF formations in Andarabi & Deh Salah districts of Baghlan Province, where there have been clashes.

Not implausible, since some of the militia forces that rebelled against the TB might have gone further up into the Mountains, when the TB recaptured most of the river valley areas a week or so back.


https://twitter.com/A7_Mirza/status/1433014680084221954?s=20

https://english.iswnews.com/20342/afghanistan-latest-updates-on-panjshir-front-1-september-2021/

[NOVA Green]

Another day of heavy clashes reported between NRF and Taliban units in and around Panjshir Province.

Details are still really sketchy, including casualty figures and the situation on the ground when it comes to gain / loss of territory, but it appears that Thursday (Afghan Time) was likely one of the heaviest days of combat thus far.

Pro-TB and Pro-NRF Social Media outlets are claiming different and uncorroborated information, although the translation which Jeff shared from Bashir Ahmad Qasani a little bit ago appears to match perhaps a more realistic assessment of what is going on at the ground level.

https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1433544965674741761?s=20

Interestingly enough we are increasingly seeing visuals of alleged "night fighting" from both TB and NRF sources, many of which appear to be from various Mountain / Hilltop positions.

Some of the images being posted are being looked at by a geo-location guru, although I imagine generally this type of work is easier with "city landscapes" vs many of the images of TB fighters roaming around mountain streams, NRF fighters on hills, etc...

https://twitter.com/hengenahm/status/1433442858799968264?s=20

Some pretty outlandish claims from pro-TB forces (after their claim Yesterday when they said they had "complete control" of Shotul District in Panjshir Province) and now I have seen claims on some of the Pro-TB social media sites, that they have made "major gains" in Anaba District of Panjshir Province, and elsewhere.

Pro-NRF outlets have also been making some pretty eye-brow raising claims including the NRF capture of the Salang area in Parwan Province....

Also pro-NRF outlets are claiming that on the NW Front they counter-attacked against TB positions around Khawak Pass, and the Andarabi militias encircled TB units, who took heavy casualties.

Also pro-NRF footage of alleged night combat in the Shotul District of Panjshir with NRF units controlling a key mountain top.

Reading between the lines it looks like the Khawak Pass area and the area in SW Panjshir / NE Parwan province are still ground zero of the recent fighting.

I did like this Tweet from Ryan O' Farrell, another Geo-Location guru comparing the trenches from NA trenches from the '90s vs the Taliban matched against the current front-lines in 2021.


https://twitter.com/ryanmofarrell/status/1433545408672931842?s=20

[NOVA Green]

Now we are seeing reports from Pro-NRF outlets claiming to have captured the City of Charikar, the capitol of Parwan province from the Taliban.

Obviously, if this is actually the case this is some pretty big news and a significant defeat for Taliban forces.

I have previously reported about Charikar within the context of a city in far NE Parwan Province where Taliban were negotiating with Panjshiri Elders, slightly over a week ago, a week after there had first been reported clashes between Pro-TB and Anti-TB forces.

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=453801.msg8222092#msg8222092

On 8/30/21, I posted about clashes around Jabul Siraj in Parwan Province:

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=453801.msg8229006#msg8229006

Now let's look at very recent statements from Pro-NRF Social Media Sites:

https://twitter.com/natiqmalikzada/status/1433563196032380932

https://twitter.com/rahmanrahmanee/status/1433571544190627842?s=20

https://twitter.com/PanjshirProvin1/status/1433567256621948929?s=20

So-WOW. Basically we now have various NRF sites claiming to have taken control of not only  parts of district, but ALSO the Capitol of the district?

So, I decided to create a map indicating locations of interest around Parwan Province and the SW Front for those who might not be following this quite as actively as I am for the major combat locations on the SW Front.



I am still extremely skeptical about Charikar, although it is not completely implausible in the event of some sort of local uprising within the City....

Still, I thought it was noteworthy to mention and we will see what images show up in the cold Afghan Morning Tomorrow verifying or debunking the various claims made by these two armed formations.