The Taliban said on Sunday their forces had fought their way into the provincial capital of the Panjshir valley, their latest claim of progress in fighting against opposition forces holding out in the area north of Kabul.

There was no immediate response from the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), which groups opposition forces. It had said earlier the Taliban "propaganda machine" was trying to spread distracting messages and that it had pushed Taliban forces back from another part of the valley.

Taliban spokesperson Bilal Karimi said on Twitter the police...