KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Two armed groups opposed to the Taliban have claimed separate attacks against Taliban forces in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan and Herat provinces, alleging casualties among Taliban members and foreign fighters supporting the group.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) said its forces targeted what it described as “international terrorists supporting the Taliban” in Zebak district of Badakhshan province on Friday, July 31.
In a statement, the group claimed that two foreign fighters were killed and three others were wounded while traveling in a convoy toward Zebak to join Taliban forces fighting against the AFF.
According to the statement, the targeted individuals were unfamiliar with the local language, which the group cited as evidence that they were foreign nationals. However, the AFF did not disclose their identities or nationalities.
The group further alleged that the presence of foreign militants alongside the Taliban demonstrates that Afghanistan under Taliban rule continues to serve as a safe haven for international terrorist organizations. The Taliban’s local authorities in Badakhshan have not commented on the claims.
The reported attack comes amid an ongoing offensive launched by the Afghanistan Freedom Front in Zebak around ten days ago. The group claims to have seized control of several areas in the district and previously alleged that it killed 21 Taliban fighters and wounded 35 others during the fighting.
The Taliban acknowledged an initial clash in Zebak but presented a different account. The group’s 219 Omar Thalith Division said the fighting occurred in the Top Khana area, where five “insurgents” who had entered from Pakistan’s Chitral region through Shah Salim were killed, while the remaining fighters retreated back to Chitral. The Taliban have not confirmed any continued clashes with the Afghanistan Freedom Front in the district.
In a separate development, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) claimed responsibility for an attack on a Taliban patrol vehicle in Herat province. In a statement, the NRF said its fighters carried out the attack at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, in the Band-e Pashdan area of Karukh district.
The NRF claimed that two members of the Taliban’s First Brigade of the Al-Farooq Corps were killed in the attack. The Taliban have not responded to the claim.
The Taliban continue to deny the presence or operational capability of organized armed opposition groups inside Afghanistan.
However, a report submitted by the United Nations Secretary-General to the Security Council on May 22 stated that the Afghanistan Freedom Front, the National Resistance Front, the National Mobilization Front, and the Green Trend collectively claimed responsibility for 18 attacks between February 1 and April 13, of which the UN assessed that 16 had indeed occurred.
The competing narratives surrounding these incidents underscore the difficulty of independently verifying battlefield claims in Afghanistan, where access to conflict areas remains limited and both the Taliban and armed opposition groups frequently publish conflicting accounts.
Despite the Taliban’s assertions that security has been restored nationwide since returning to power in 2021, resistance groups continue to report attacks in several provinces, indicating that armed opposition activity persists in parts of the country.
