: Militiamen loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of the late Ahmad Shah Massoud, hold their weapons, in Panjshir province northeastern Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. The Panjshir Valley is the last region not under Taliban control following their stunning blitz across Afghanistan. Local fighters held off the Soviets in the 1980s and the Taliban a decade later under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Massoud, a guerrilla fighter who attained near-mythic status before he was killed in a suicide bombing.