At least 17 people were killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul after Taliban sources said their fighters had seized control of Panjshir, the last province in Afghanistan that has built up strong resistance against the hardline Islamist group. However, leaders of the resistance holding out against the Taliban denied the province has fallen.

The Shamshad news agency said “aerial shooting” in Kabul on Friday killed 17 people and wounded 41. Tolo news agency gave a similar toll.

At least 14 people were injured in celebratory firing in Nangarhar province east of the capital, said Gulzada Sangar, spokesman for an area hospital in the provincial capital of Jalalabad.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the gunfire.

“Avoid shooting in the air and thank God instead,” Mujahid said in a Twitter post. “The weapons and bullets given to you are public property. No one has the right to waste them. The bullets can also harm civilians, don't shoot in vain," he said.

In Panjshir valley, around 80 km north of Kabul, former Afghan vice president Amrullah Saleh, who is leading the resistance alongside Ahmad Massoud — the son of legendary anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud — admitted the situation was “difficult” for the National Resistance Front (NRF).

“The situation is difficult, we have been under invasion,” Saleh said in a video message.

“The resistance is continuing and will continue,” he said.

(SAM)