Renewed Taliban Infighting Reported In Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province
Fighting has again broken out among Taliban forces in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province.
Fighting has again broken out among Taliban forces in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province.
Local sources reported renewed clashes early Wednesday in the Shahr-e-Buzurg district between Taliban units and fighters loyal to Abdul Rahman Ammar, the group’s former provincial head of mining.
Sources told Afghanistan International that casualties have not yet been confirmed, but Ammar’s fighters are currently surrounded by Taliban reinforcements sent to the area.
Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban’s army chief of staff, reportedly travelled to Badakhshan on Tuesday to mediate and end the conflict. However, according to multiple sources, his efforts have so far failed to halt the fighting.
Ammar’s loyalists are said to have taken defensive positions in the mountains around Shahr-e-Buzurg, where the former commander enjoys significant local support.
The clashes, which have continued for several days, pit Ammar’s forces against those of Shafiqullah Hafizi, the Taliban’s current head of mining in Badakhshan, in what sources describe as a dispute over control of lucrative gold mines. Ammar is believed to have backing from senior Taliban figures, including Fitrat.
The Taliban authorities have not commented publicly on the confrontation.
On Monday, Taliban border battalion troops reportedly fought against Ammar’s forces in support of Hafizi. Additional reinforcements were later dispatched from the provincial capital to contain the violence.
Earlier reports from Badakhshan suggested that at least three people had been killed, including two fighters loyal to Ammar and one Taliban officer identified as Abdul Alim Hamidi, commander of operations for the group’s 1st Brigade. Taliban units are now said to be pursuing the “rebel commander.”
Both Ammar and Hafizi are influential Taliban figures in Badakhshan. Although Ammar no longer holds an official post, he is regarded as a powerful local commander with his own loyal fighters and funding network.
Since taking power, the Taliban have prioritised mining operations across Afghanistan. In Badakhshan, in particular, competition among commanders for control and profit from the province’s natural resources has repeatedly led to internal clashes.
