A Taliban team deployed to destroy opium poppy fields in Badakhshan’s Jurm district has withdrawn amid growing internal tensions and local unrest, sources told Afghanistan International on Sunday.
Local sources said dissatisfaction is mounting among Taliban members from the province, with tensions further fuelled by the killing of a Taliban fighter in the provincial capital, Faizabad.
According to the sources, a Badakhshani Taliban member was shot dead by another Taliban fighter in Faizabad, inflaming divisions within the group’s local ranks.
Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban’s Chief of Army Staff and himself a Badakhshani, is reportedly seeking to maintain tight control of the situation to prevent new protests in the province. However, discontent among Taliban members from Badakhshan reportedly remains high.
Meanwhile, the Taliban team assigned to eradicate poppy crops has now withdrawn from Jurm district, where intense clashes between local residents and Taliban forces had erupted over the past week.
Sources said the family of a farmer killed during the clashes was paid 400,000 Afghanis in compensation, while families of those injured received 20,000 Afghanis each.
The village of Farghamanj in Jurm district has been the focal point of the unrest, with residents resisting the Taliban’s efforts to destroy poppy fields.
Amid the growing tensions, Abdul Haq Wasiq, head of the Taliban’s intelligence agency, visited Badakhshan on 27 May and held meetings with local officials in an effort to ease the situation.
Although public protests have reportedly subsided for now, local sources say dissatisfaction remains widespread and internal divisions within the Taliban persist.
