Intermittent fighting has continued in the Darayem and Zebak districts of the northeastern province of Badakhshan, local sources said on Saturday, adding that the clashes have intensified over the past two days.
The sources told Amu TV that the Taliban have deployed additional forces to the districts of Darayem and Zebak, as well as Yaftal-e Payin district, where anti-Taliban activity has increased in recent days.
Daoud Naji, head of the political committee of the Freedom Front, said in an interview with Amu TV that fighting between the group’s forces and the Taliban was ongoing in Zebak district.
Naji said Freedom Front fighters engaged Taliban forces for 15 consecutive hours and thwarted Taliban attempts to retake areas of Badakhshan.
He claimed that more than 20 Taliban fighters were killed and another 30 wounded during the clashes. The claims could not be independently verified.
“Fighting continues in different parts of Zebak District, except for the district center,” Naji said. “Clashes are also underway in Khashm, and Freedom Front forces remain engaged with the Taliban in several locations.”
Local sources also said the Taliban had reinforced their positions by sending additional troops to Darayem, Zebak and Yaftal-e Payin districts.
Responding to Taliban allegations regarding foreign backing for the armed opposition, Naji rejected the claims.
“This is Taliban propaganda,” he said. “We began our struggle when Pakistan was the Taliban’s strongest supporter, and it remains so. There may be political disagreements between them, but the people of Afghanistan are fighting for their freedom and their future.”
The Taliban’s 219th Omar-e-Salis Corps said five opposition fighters had been killed in the fighting in Zebak. The Freedom Front confirmed the death of one of its own fighters but did not comment on the Taliban’s casualty claims.
Mohammad Radmanesh, a military affairs analyst, said the recent increase in violence in Zebak was driven by the presence of non-local Taliban fighters, the activities of multiple anti-Taliban groups, including the National Resistance Front and the Freedom Front, and growing political discontent in northern Afghanistan.
Clashes between Taliban and armed opposition groups have been reported in at least three districts of Badakhshan over the past week.
Last week, an armed opposition group known as the Homeland Soldiers Front said it had briefly seized control of Yaftal-e Payin district, including the district administration building and police headquarters, marking what the group described as the first temporary loss of a district by the Taliban since returning to power nearly five years ago.
