A fight to the death

From Asia Times 

Afghans in Panjshir Valley defy Taliban.

"It’s only a matter of when the attack comes.

"And when it does it could be the greatest battle, and possibly the bloodiest, that Afghanistan has ever seen.

"An Agence France-Presse correspondent reported seeing 'machine gun nests, mortars and surveillance posts fortified with sandbags' set up by the National Resistance Front to defend its positions in the Panjshir Valley.

"Famed for its natural defences, the redoubt tucked into the Hindu Kush mountains never fell to the Taliban during the civil war of the 1990s, nor was it conquered by the Soviets a decade earlier, and is now Afghanistan’s last remaining holdout.

"None of these guys are going to be laying down their arms anytime soon, for the basic reason they will be tortured and executed.

"Sources say they are fierce, and will fight to the death if they have to.

The Afghans in the valley have asked for material support.

‘‘'We’re waiting for some opportunity, some support,' Hamid Saifi, a former colonel in the Afghan National Army, and now a commander in Massoud’s resistance, told the New York Times by phone.

“'Maybe some countries will be ready for this great work. So far, all countries we talked to are quiet. America, Europe, China, Russia, all of them are quiet.’"

https://asiatimes.com/2021/08/taliban-face-stiff-resistance-from-panjshir-rebels/

Link at Maggie's Farm.

In the early 1980s during debate on whether the US should supply the anti-Soviet forces, an Afghan leader said (paraphrased), “We will accept your arms and ammunition, but we do not want your soldiers.”