Local sources reported that Qamaruddin Andarabi, a senior commander of the National Resistance Front (NRF), was killed in the Andarab district of northern Baghlan province.
Andarabi was killed by an alleged Taliban insider “spy” who carried out an attack near his base in the district’s Banu village on Monday morning, sources told KabulNow.
The Taliban spy had recently joined the resistance group in the district, sources added.
NRF, the anti-Taliban armed group, confirmed the death of its senior commander.*
Another anti-Taliban armed group known as the Andarab Resistance Front also confirmed the news in a post on X but did not detail the circumstance of Andarabi’s killing, who it said had a fearsome reputation as an experienced jihadi commander.
It added that Andarabi’s brother, Jamaluddin also a commander, was killed earlier, without providing further information.
The Taliban authorities in the province have not commented yet.
Baghlan is one of the main areas where NRF and other resistance groups have been actively fighting the Taliban forces. Following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, NRF was able to temporarily hold this territory before being pushed back to the mountainous regions by the Taliban.
Mainly formed of former security forces, NRF is led by Ahmad Masoud, son of the late jihadi commander Ahmad Shah Masoud.
* A previous version of this news stated that NRF did not officially confirm the death of Qamaruddin Andarabi.
