The Taliban fought deadly battles with budding resistance forces in northern Afghanistan, as political negotiations on a broader government moved ahead in Kabul and access to the city’s U.S.-run airport remained difficult for thousands of Afghans trying to flee.
While most of Afghanistan’s army and security forces collapsed, some of the Taliban’s most dedicated foes have retreated to the Panjshir valley northeast of Kabul, pledging to continue the fight from the country’s only province not under Taliban sway.
They include the fallen Afghan republic’s defense minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi; Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who claims to be Afghanistan’s legitimate leader after President Ashraf Ghani abandoned his duties and fled the country Aug. 15; and Ahmad Massoud, a son of famous Panjshiri commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Video posted on social media showed casualties and fighting between Taliban forces and anti-Taliban militias in…