Taliban Confirms Fall Of Yaftal District in Badakhshan

Sepahiyan-e Mihan (Patriotic Soldiers Front), or the Patriotic Soldiers, took control of the district for several hours in a surprise attack. Yaftali Sufla became the first district in Badakhshan to fall as the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power approaches.

Little information is available about the group. Local sources told Afghanistan International that it consists of people from different sections of society and residents of Badakhshan who came together in response to growing dissatisfaction with Taliban rule in the province.

According to the sources, its members include activists, some former security personnel and local residents. They are in contact and coordination with several former mujahideen commanders and political groups but have no organisational affiliation with any of them and describe themselves as an independent movement.

One member of the group told Afghanistan International that its main motivation was what he described as Taliban oppression and repression in Badakhshan.

He said they could no longer watch the Taliban continue to mistreat the people of Badakhshan and that their goal was to mobilise local communities to resist the group.

No information is currently available about the leader or commanders of Sepahiyan-e Mihan.

The armed group attacked the Yaftali Sufla district headquarters early on Friday and raised its flag over the building.

Sources said the group disarmed Taliban personnel and took military equipment with it.

After withdrawing from Yaftali Sufla, Sepahiyan-e Mihan displayed the weapons and military equipment it had seized.

Why Yaftali Sufla?

Sepahiyan-e Mihan carried out its first operation in Yaftali Sufla, an area near Faizabad that is considered more militarily vulnerable than some of Badakhshan’s mountainous districts.

Local observers believe the choice of district suggests that the group does not yet possess extensive military capacity or experience.

Although its fighters managed to seize the district building for several hours, they were forced to withdraw after the Taliban rapidly deployed reinforcements.

Some security sources also believe the group is composed more of local civilians than professional soldiers, with members taking up arms for political and patriotic reasons.

Badakhshan Emerges as Centre of Anti-Taliban Resistance

In recent years, Badakhshan has become one of the main centres of activity by armed groups opposed to the Taliban.

The National Resistance Front and the Afghanistan Freedom Front have repeatedly claimed attacks against Taliban forces in the province.

Those operations have mainly involved ambushes, guerrilla attacks and strikes on Taliban checkpoints, some of which have reportedly caused casualties among Taliban forces.

The emergence of Sepahiyan-e Mihan suggests that armed opposition in Badakhshan is expanding and that new actors are entering the conflict.

The group’s appearance comes amid rising tensions in the province, including disputes between local Taliban commanders and forces deployed from other provinces, rivalry over mines, social tensions and growing public dissatisfaction.

The Taliban also appear to be taking the situation seriously.

In recent weeks, Taliban Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob visited Badakhshan and toured several districts. The group has also created a new military unit in the province and deployed additional forces.

However, Sepahiyan-e Mihan’s attack and its temporary seizure of Yaftali Sufla showed that Badakhshan remains one of the Taliban’s most vulnerable provinces and that the likelihood of new opposition groups emerging there is increasing.

Saleh has also worked in Ghana and Eritrea and contributed to the development of UNICEF’s first programme for South Africa following the end of apartheid

UNDP is the United Nations’ main development agency and operates in about 170 countries. Its goals include reducing poverty, creating economic opportunities, strengthening public services, preparing for crises and addressing the effects of climate change.

Since the Taliban returned to power, the agency has focused its work in Afghanistan on providing direct assistance to communities and preventing the collapse of local economies.

Its programmes in Afghanistan include creating employment opportunities, providing vocational training, supporting farmers and constructing water canals, greenhouses and small-scale local infrastructure.

The sources told Afghanistan International that the attackers took control of the district administration building, police headquarters and intelligence office for several hours and raised their flag over the district compound.

After taking control, the assailants disarmed Taliban forces, seized military equipment and government vehicles, and then left the area, according to local sources.

Residents said the attackers held the district for several hours.

Local sources said the assault began early on Friday, when between 20 and 25 armed men stormed the Yaftali Sufla district compound. After a brief clash, they took control of the site.

Some sources also claimed that the attackers took several Taliban members with them. Afghanistan International has not independently verified this claim.

No details are currently available about possible casualties.

Local sources said a group calling itself the Patriotic Soldiers Front organised the attack.

Following the assault, the Taliban sent reinforcements from Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan province, to Yaftali Sufla. Sources said Taliban helicopters were also patrolling over the district and security measures had been tightened.

Yaftali Sufla is located near Faizabad and is regarded as one of Badakhshan’s important and strategically significant districts. Its residents have long played a notable role in the province’s political developments and local power structures.

The incident comes as Badakhshan has become one of Afghanistan’s most unstable provinces in recent months.

Alongside the activities of armed groups opposed to the Taliban, the province has witnessed local tensions, disputes between local Taliban commanders and forces deployed from other provinces, and conflicts over the control of mines and revenue sources, including drug cultivation and trafficking.

Local sources have also reported growing public dissatisfaction with the large presence of Taliban forces from outside Badakhshan, which they say has further complicated the province’s security situation.

According to the sources, the anti-Taliban forces also took weapons, ammunition and equipment from the district headquarters.

A resident of Yaftali Sufla told Afghanistan International that Taliban helicopters were patrolling over the district following the incident.

Taliban officials have not yet commented.

The incident comes after senior Taliban officials, including the group’s defence minister and army chief, recently travelled to Badakhshan to assess the security situation.

It remains unclear which group carried out the attack on the Taliban district headquarters.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front and the National Resistance Front are two armed groups opposed to the Taliban and are active in several provinces, including Badakhshan.

Badakhshan has repeatedly witnessed tensions and clashes in recent years over poppy cultivation and the control and extraction of mines, particularly gold and precious stone deposits.

Tahir Andrabi, spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, told a news conference that the ice between the two countries has not broken and will not break. He stressed that Islamabad’s position towards the Taliban had not changed.

Andrabi made the remarks in response to a question about the reopening of the Torkham crossing for the transport of United Nations humanitarian aid.

He said facilitating the passage of relief supplies was a humanitarian measure and should not be interpreted as a sign of improving political relations with the Taliban.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman said relations would remain frozen until Taliban-controlled Afghanistan stopped supporting terrorism in Pakistan.

He added that the Taliban must provide written and verifiable guarantees that Afghan territory would not be used to plan, organise, finance or carry out attacks against Pakistan.

Andrabi said verbal assurances from Taliban officials that Afghan territory would not be used against other countries were insufficient for Islamabad.

He stressed that any progress in relations depended on practical measures, formal guarantees and monitoring mechanisms.

Security Deadlock Between Kabul and Islamabad

Relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have become increasingly tense in recent months because of a rise in attacks by the Pakistani Taliban inside Pakistan.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban of allowing members of the Pakistani Taliban to operate from Afghan territory. The Taliban have rejected the allegation and say they will not allow Afghan soil to be used against any other country.

However, the increase in attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan has prompted Pakistan to demand specific and enforceable guarantees from the Taliban and to make any improvement in relations conditional on security measures by Kabul.