Residents endangered by clashes in Panjshir

View of a valley in Panjshir View of a valley in Panjshir Photo by MisoKnitl on iStock

03 September 2021

Several civilians forced to flee as fighting in Afghanistan does not end

After the takeover of the capital Kabul, Taliban fighters continue their military foray, targeting this time Panjshir, the final holdout province situated in the northern Afghanistan. As reported by Al Jazeera, the battle between the Islamic group and the resistance forces has been infuriating in the last week, growing more relentless by the day.

As an aftermath of these soaring hostilities, roughly 400 families living in the region have been forced to abandon their houses and flee, exacerbating the displacement crisis which has been plaguing the country since the withdrawal of the western troops. Al Jazeera specifies that amongst those people who got displaced, women and children are more likely to look for shelter and assistance in the nearby cities, whereas men stay often behind to protect their lands and nurture the resistance against the Taliban forces. Moreover, it appears that the fighting and the shelling are not the only reasons why the inhabitants of the province are willing to leave their homes. Indeed, some residents referred to Al Jazeera that Taliban combatants obligate them to collect fallen Taliban soldiers’ bodies from the battlefield on the mountains, as they know that there are landmines on the soil and the operation can turn out to be deadly. However, this information has not been verified, and other civilians living there belied the allegation.

Whereas Taliban continue to state that their military raids are not affecting civilians, it is clear that the ongoing violence is bringing about displacement and denial of access to fundamental objects to those residing in the conflictual settings. For these reasons, it is important to keep casting light on the atrocities committed in Afghanistan, as to make sure to mitigate the impact of the war on these innocent people.  

 

Sources:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/3/fighting-between-taliban-resistance-forces-resumes-in-panjshir

https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?next_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fworld%2f2021%2f09%2f06%2fafghanistan-kabul-taliban-updates%2f

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/06/asia/afghanistan-monday-intl-hnk/index.html

 

Author: Gianpaolo Mascaro; Editor: Jasmina Saric

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