FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2021, file photo, armored vehicles are seen in Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Taliban said on Monday, Sept. 6, 2021, they have taken control of Panjshir province north of Kabul, the Afghan capital. The province was the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in the country and the only province the Taliban had not seized during their sweep last month. (AP Photo/Jalaluddin Sekandar)
Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The last province to remain a holdout to the Taliban has now fallen under Taliban control. The Taliban says they have taken control of Panjshir province. Panjshir is north of Kabul, the Afghan capital.
The province was the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in the country and the only province the Taliban had not seized during their sweep of Afghanistan last month.
Thousands of Taliban fighters overran eight districts of Panjshir overnight, according to witnesses from the area. The anti-Taliban fighters had been led by the former vice president and the son of the iconic anti-Taliban fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud who was killed by a suicide bomber just days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
The U.S. ended its two decade occupation of Afghanistan with the U.S. Military withdrawal ending Aug. 31st of this year. The Biden administration has been heavily criticized for leaving several hundred Americans behind.
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