At least two people have been killed and about 14 others wounded in ongoing clashes between local residents and Taliban forces in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province, local sources said on Saturday.
The fighting began on Thursday in Argo district and was continuing into Friday, the sources said.
Residents and local officials attributed the unrest to Taliban operations aimed at destroying poppy fields in the district, part of a broader campaign by Taliban authorities to enforce a nationwide ban on opium cultivation.
According to local sources, residents angered by the destruction of crops blocked a main road in the district, while Taliban deployed additional personnel to mountainous areas around Argo amid fears that the confrontation could intensify.
The sources said Taliban had sent a delegation to the district in an attempt to negotiate with residents and contain the unrest, though no agreement had yet been reached.
Taliban had not publicly commented on the clashes by Friday evening.
The confrontation is the latest in a series of disputes in Badakhshan over Taliban anti-narcotics operations, which have triggered recurring tensions in a province where many rural communities depend heavily on poppy cultivation for income.
Residents in several districts of Badakhshan have previously protested Taliban eradication campaigns, arguing that farmers lack alternative livelihoods in one of Afghanistan’s poorest and most remote provinces.
Last year, the province witnessed days of deadly protests and clashes tied to similar eradication efforts. Following those demonstrations, Taliban forces arrested dozens of residents, according to local accounts and rights groups.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have sought to enforce a ban on narcotics production first announced by their leader in 2022. The campaign led to a sharp reduction in opium cultivation across much of Afghanistan, according to United Nations assessments.
But the crackdown has also deepened economic hardship in some rural areas, particularly in provinces where poppy farming had become a major source of household income after decades of war, drought and unemployment.
Sources have said that many farmlands in the province have been cultivated with poppy this year.
