What’s Next for the Afghan Resistance After the Fall of Panjshir?

The capture of Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley is a political and propaganda victory for the Taliban; several additional factors will determine the future of the National Resistance Front. The Taliban announced they had taken control of the resistance holdout on Sept. 6, a day before announcing the makeup of their new interim government. Elements of the National Resistance Front (NRF) admitted the Taliban had taken the government offices in the Panjshir Valley, but claimed that the resistance forces had shifted from conventional warfare to guerrilla warfare, taking refuge in the mountains. While reliable information remains scarce, we are monitoring several key questions to assess the direction of future resistance to Taliban rule. ...