The Taliban director for the Directorate of Information and Culture in the northeastern Badakhshan province claims that the group’s forces killed 38 fighters of the National Resistance Front (NRF) and arrested 78 others in the province last week.
Moazeddin Ahmadi, Taliban’s director of Badakhshan Information and Culture Department, says that two NRF senior commanders – Bahruddin and Abdul Hamid Mujahid – are also among the NRF fighters dead over the past week.
He confirmed that three Taliban forces were killed and five others were wounded in the clashes with the NRF fighters.
The local Taliban official says the group’s fighters destroyed the “last nest of the rebels” and concluded their operation against the NRF fighters in Badakhshan.
NRF is a militia group formed of former security forces under the leadership of Ahmad Masoud, son of the Jihadi commander Ahmad Shah Masoud. The NRF has challenged the Taliban in deadly battles in several provinces, including the Panjshir, Baghlan, Takhar, and Badakhshan provinces, many times since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
The ruling Taliban refer to the NRF as “rebels.”
The NRF has yet to react regarding this claim of the Taliban in Badakhshan–but the militia group has typically claimed to cause many Taliban casualties.
Both sides have reportedly fought bloody battles in different parts of the Badakhshan province over the past few days.
On the other hand, the Taliban have been accused of killing NRF prisoners in Badakhshan.
Talking to Kabul Now, sources confirm that eight NRF prisoners were killed, including its new commander, Abdul Hameed Mujahid. Mujahid was previously a Taliban commander and has recently joined the NRF.
