KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Armed anti-Taliban groups said they carried out a series of attacks across northern Afghanistan over the weekend, claiming to have killed and wounded several Taliban members in three provinces.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) said on X that its fighters launched two attacks in Badakhshan and Kunduz provinces on Saturday. In Badakhshan, the group said at least three Taliban members were killed and two wounded in a rocket attack followed by 15 minutes of clashes in Faizabad, the provincial capital. The AFF said a separate attack in Kunduz city targeted a Taliban checkpoint on Azadi Road, killing two Taliban members and wounding another.
Separately, the National Resistance Front (NRF) said its fighters struck a Taliban vehicle carrying the Taliban-appointed police chief for Tashqurghan district in northern Balkh province. According to the group, the police chief and a block commander were wounded, and several bodyguards were killed. The NRF said none of its fighters were harmed.
Taliban authorities have not yet commented on these attacks.
The AFF and NRF remain the most active armed groups opposing the Taliban rule. They are largely composed of former Afghan National Defence and Security Forces personnel and typically use guerrilla-style tactics, including ambushes on checkpoints, targeted strikes on Taliban vehicles, and attacks on military positions in remote areas.
A report to the UN Security Council in September by Secretary-General António Guterres noted that while these groups do not pose a strategic threat to the Taliban, they remain active and continue conducting attacks. The report documented that between May and July, the groups claimed responsibility for 47 attacks, of which the UN verified 19.
