A resident of Nusay district told Afghanistan International on Saturday that the military situation had intensified, with the Taliban imposing a night-time curfew and completely shutting down telecommunications networks.
Local sources reported new clashes on Saturday, 15 August, between the Afghanistan Freedom Front and Taliban forces in Zebak district of Badakhshan.
As fighting intensifies in Nusay district of Badakhshan’s Darwaz area, the Afghanistan Freedom Front says it carried out a “pre-emptive” attack on Taliban positions in Zebak district.
The National Resistance Front said the Taliban-appointed mayor of Faizabad in Badakhshan was killed in an attack by its forces. The group said the mayor’s guards were also killed.
Human Rights Watch has called for transparency and accountability over the death of Afghan asylum seeker Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal in US immigration detention, urging authorities to release his full autopsy report.
The Taliban’s use of drones has evolved over five years from commercial surveillance aircraft and propaganda tools into a more ambitious program involving armed and apparent one-way attack drones.
The Taliban’s commission on migrant affairs says Pakistan deported at least 2,990 Afghan migrants on Friday, returning them through the Torkham and Spin Boldak crossings.
The Islamabad High Court has stopped the deportation of 18 Afghan nationals and directed Pakistani authorities to explain the cancellation of their residency cards.
