KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The National Resistance Front (NRF), an armed group fighting the Taliban, has confirmed the death of its senior commander Hasib Panjshiri, after Taliban-affiliated media reported that he had been killed in an intelligence operation.
Abdullah Khenjani, the NRF’s head of political affairs, confirmed Panjshiri’s death in a video posted on X, describing him as a tireless fighter and offering condolences to NRF members and the people of Afghanistan.
Khenjani did not provide details about when or where Panjshiri was killed or the circumstances surrounding his death. The Taliban have also so far provided no information about the time or location of the killing.
However, audio recordings attributed to Taliban members and circulated on social media reportedly indicated that Panjshiri was killed in Salang district, north of Kabul.
Panjshiri, also known as Hasib Qoway-e-Markaz, was a senior military commander in the NRF, which is led by Ahmad Massoud, the son of late anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was among the group’s more prominent commanders operating inside Afghanistan.
The NRF is largely composed of former members of Afghanistan’s National Defense and Security Forces and was formed after the Taliban seized power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces.
Since its formation, the NRF has engaged in deadly clashes with Taliban forces, particularly in the Panjshir Valley, Kabul and nearby provinces. The group claims to have killed hundreds of Taliban fighters across Afghanistan in recent years.
