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The incident took place in Chah Ab district of Takhar province, where Taliban forces and personnel connected to a gold mining company entered the area to launch an extraction operation. Several people on both sides were injured, according to the sources.

A video obtained by Afghanistan International shows residents throwing stones at Taliban members, while gunfire can be heard in the background. The footage also shows local residents fleeing the area after shots were fired. Heavy machinery belonging to the mining company is visible at the site.

Witnesses said the operation was intended to extract gold from the area, a move opposed by local residents. Tensions escalated when unidentified individuals who had recently arrived in the village for gold exploration opened fire to disperse the crowd, wounding at least one person.

Residents responded by hurling stones at the company’s vehicles, the sources said.

The Taliban have, over the past four years, placed increased emphasis on mining activities across several provinces as a key source of revenue.

Critics and local residents have repeatedly raised concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding mineral extraction under Taliban rule, including how contracts are awarded and how revenues from Afghanistan’s natural resources are used.

In a statement issued on Friday, the group said the attack targeted the Taliban’s Court of Appeal in Maimana, the capital of Faryab, at about 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. The AFF said the strike hit a meeting of the Taliban’s judicial police, which it described as an enforcement arm of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

The statement did not say whether any AFF fighters were injured in the attack.

The Taliban have not issued an official response and have not confirmed the reported casualties.

Several residents of Maimana told Afghanistan International that an explosion was heard in the city on Thursday evening. Local sources said explosives placed inside a container detonated at a Taliban court building.

In recent months, the Afghanistan Freedom Front has said it would step up attacks against the Taliban’s morality police after the detention of several girls in Kabul. Since then, the group has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks targeting offices of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in multiple provinces.

Mujahid said claims that the Taliban operates under Pakistan’s influence were the result of what he described as “20 years of propaganda”. He said the Pakistani military had expected the Taliban, after returning to power, to govern in line with Islamabad’s wishes.

He urged Pakistan to stop what he called “dreaming” of controlling the Taliban administration.

According to internal and international reports, many Taliban leaders and commanders lived in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar during the two decades of war with the former Afghan government and US-led forces. Senior Pakistani officials, under pressure from Kabul and Washington, largely refrained from expelling Taliban figures, particularly members of the Haqqani network.

Analysts have long argued that Pakistan used the Taliban as a proxy force against the former Afghan government and India’s interests in Afghanistan.

Since returning to power, the Taliban have rejected Pakistan’s requests to expel fighters from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, from Afghan territory. The group was responsible for one of the deadliest years for Pakistan’s military in 2025.

In an interview with journalist Mirwais Afghan published on Thursday, Mujahid addressed the causes of rising tensions and clashes between Pakistan and the Taliban administration. He accused Pakistan of fuelling instability in Afghanistan at the request of the United States.

Referring to remarks by Donald Trump about reclaiming Bagram Air Base, Mujahid said “a coordinated game is underway”, which he claimed was being driven by “a particular circle in Pakistan”.

He said those involved had “taken on the war project as a contract”. While Mujahid did not name individuals, he was referring to the Pakistani military leadership under Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to analysts.

Pakistan recorded its deadliest year in more than a decade in 2025, with at least 1,000 security incidents reported and about 4,000 deaths. TTP claimed responsibility for 3,573 attacks during the year, resulting in the deaths of 3,818 Pakistani security personnel, according to official figures.

Islamabad asked the Taliban to cooperate in preventing TTP attacks, but the request was rejected. After diplomatic efforts failed, Pakistan launched military strikes inside Afghanistan and began expelling millions of Afghan migrants. Taliban officials have said the pressure has not altered their position.

Struggle For Control

Mujahid said another source of tension was Pakistan’s alleged attempt to exercise full control over the Taliban government. He said the Taliban is not a Pakistani proxy and should not be treated as one.

He said that after returning to power, the Taliban established their own governing system and independently assumed control of Afghanistan’s internal and external affairs. This, he said, angered what he described as a “special circle” in Pakistan and led to what he called a conspiracy against the Taliban.

Mujahid said the Taliban is capable of defending itself but declined to provide details about its military capabilities, calling them “military secrets”.

He again rejected Pakistan’s accusations that the Taliban is sheltering TTP fighters, saying the group does not require sanctuary in Afghanistan. He said TTP maintains territory and military facilities inside Pakistan, referring to its members as “Waziristani migrants” who he claimed had been fully “contained”.

According to the sources, the unmanned aircraft went down in Maidan Shahr, the provincial capital. The origin of the drone remains unclear.

Taliban members circulated images on social media showing the wreckage of an overturned drone lying on a snow-covered hillside, with Taliban fighters seen standing around the remains.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, and Taliban officials have not issued an official statement on the incident.

Taliban authorities have repeatedly acknowledged that Afghanistan’s airspace is not fully under their control.

In Aqrab, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said US drones continued to conduct surveillance flights over Afghanistan. He added that American drones have been operating in Afghan airspace since the Taliban’s return to power, entering through some neighbouring countries and violating Afghanistan’s airspace.

Previously, Pakistan carried out drone strikes in parts of Khost and Nangarhar provinces, according to local officials.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the changes were ordered by Akhundzada. Under the reshuffle, Qari Gul Haidar Shafiq was appointed governor of Bamyan, while former Bamyan governor Abdullah Sarhadi was named governor of Jawzjan. The governor of Sar-e Pol was also replaced.

Ahmad Shah Dindost, former commander of the 205th Al-Badr Corps, was appointed governor of Sar-e Pol. Andar Gul Abdullah, formerly chief of staff of the 201st Khalid bin Walid Corps, was named deputy governor of Laghman.

Akhundzada also approved three new appointments in Kandahar, including a district chief, a commissioner and a military commander, and authorised 15 additional changes within the defence ministry.

Further reshuffles were made within the corps structure. The former Sar-e Pol governor was appointed commander of the 205th Al-Badr Corps, while the former deputy of Panjshir’s special brigade became deputy commander of the same corps.

Two civilian officials were also assigned to military posts. A former deputy minister for rural development was appointed chief of staff of the 217th Omari Corps, while the former head of housing and urban development in Helmand was named commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 205th Al-Badr Corps.

The appointments underscore the Taliban’s emphasis on loyalty, religious affiliation and wartime backgrounds over professional or technical expertise, and highlight the limited role of Kabul-based ministers in key decision-making.