The Taliban has retaken control of the Shekay district in northeastern Badakhshan province, which fell to resistance front forces (NRF) on Monday. It was one of the few districts to fall under their control over the past year.
According to two Badakhshan sources, the Taliban also attacked the province’s Nusai and Kof Ab districts.
The Taliban district governor for Shekay and his guards, who were arrested by the NRF, were released after mediation by tribal elders.
Shekay was captured by the resistance front on Monday afternoon and took control after two hours of clashes, according to sources.
Mohammad Akram, the district governor of the Taliban for Shekay, and 10 of his guards were taken hostage by the resistance front, and other members of the group fled to Nusai and Kof Ab districts.
The Taliban did not immediately comment on the district’s fall on Monday, but they later denied the news.
The Taliban’s interior ministry on Monday called it a “rumor” and said it is baseless.
This comes as NRF spokesman Sibghatullah Ahmadi on Monday said their forces have captured the district and that at least 10 Taliban members have been taken captive.
There is no report of casualties on both sides of the clashes.
Raghistan, Yaftal-e-Bala, Kohistan, Kiran wa Minjan, Maimay, and Shekay districts in Badakhshan, as well as parts of the provincial capital Faizabad, have witnessed sporadic clashes between the Taliban and the resistance front over the past few weeks.
According to the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency, the Taliban’s defense minister, Mullah Yaqub Mujahid, visited border areas in Badakhshan on Monday.
