KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) says it has attacked a Taliban military convoy traveling from Kabul to Badakhshan, as fighting between the group and Taliban forces continues in the northeastern province.
In a statement, the AFF said its fighters targeted the convoy on Saturday, July 25, in Doshi district of Baghlan province while it was transporting reinforcements and military equipment to Badakhshan.
The group claimed that seven Taliban members were killed and six others wounded, adding that none of its own fighters were harmed during the operation.
The attack came amid ongoing clashes in Zebak district of Badakhshan, where the AFF says it has been engaged in fighting with Taliban forces since Thursday. On Sunday, the group released a video on X claiming Taliban fighters had been forced to withdraw from what it described as “liberated areas” of the district.
The AFF also alleged that Taliban forces had planted landmines around their checkpoints in the district center.
According to the AFF, the fighting in Zebak has resulted in heavy Taliban casualties. The group claimed on Friday that 21 Taliban fighters had been killed and 37 wounded during the clashes, while confirming the death of one of its own members.
Taliban authorities have acknowledged that fighting occurred in Zebak but disputed the AFF’s account. The Taliban’s 219th Omar-e-Salis Division said the clash took place in the Topkhana area and claimed five “insurgents” who had entered the area from Pakistan’s Chitral district were killed, while the remaining fighters fled back across the border.
The Taliban have not confirmed the AFF’s claims that fighting remains ongoing or that government forces have withdrawn from parts of the district.
The recent escalation follows reports from local sources that armed clashes erupted along the Kabul–Balkh highway in Doshi district, although Taliban officials have not publicly commented on the convoy attack. In response to the unrest in Badakhshan, the Taliban have reportedly deployed additional reinforcements to Zebak, and Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban’s Chief of Army Staff, has traveled to the province.
The AFF was established following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 and is led by General Yasin Zia, the former chief of staff of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces. The group is composed largely of former Afghan military and security personnel and has claimed responsibility for hundreds of attacks against Taliban forces in recent years, particularly in Panjshir, Kabul, Balkh, Herat, and neighboring provinces.
The latest fighting comes amid a rise in armed opposition activity in Badakhshan. Last week, a newly formed anti-Taliban group known as Sepahian-e Mihan, or Soldiers of the Homeland, briefly seized control of Yaftal-e Payeen district, marking the first reported temporary loss of a district by the Taliban since its return to power.
Following that incident, residents and opposition groups reported that Taliban forces launched extensive security operations across parts of Badakhshan, carrying out house-to-house searches and detaining dozens of people accused of collaborating with armed opposition groups.
While the Taliban generally downplays the activities of such opposition groups and rarely comments in detail on individual attacks, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) regularly tracks and reports security incidents involving anti-Taliban groups in its quarterly updates to the UN Security Council.
