At Least 10 People Still Missing After Nuristan Floods, Says Taliban

One source said the front’s fighters had captured elevated positions after obtaining heavy weapons and equipment.

Afghanistan International could not independently verify the claim.

The Taliban has not commented on the latest reports. A day earlier, Taliban army chief Fasihuddin Fitrat said Taliban forces remained deployed in the border areas where they had been stationed from the outset and that there was “no problem”.

Videos from the front line received by Afghanistan International appear to show Freedom Front fighters near the Tupkhana reservoir.

The footage shows fighters firing sporadically towards Taliban positions. One fighter can be heard saying, “The enemy has fled.”

Fighting between the Afghanistan Freedom Front and the Taliban in Zebak entered its fourth day on Sunday.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front has claimed in recent days that it captured strategic positions in the highlands of Zebak and shot down two Taliban drones.

The Taliban army, however, has said its forces repelled the opposition attack.

Fateh had been summoned to Kabul amid rising tensions and internal disputes within the Taliban in Badakhshan.

He has returned as Taliban forces have been fighting the Afghanistan Freedom Front in Zebak district since Thursday.

Fateh travelled to Kabul following mediation by Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban army chief of staff, and Din Mohammad Hanif, the Taliban’s economy minister.

Fateh had previously been dissatisfied with the Taliban leadership and resigned as deputy governor of Zabul province.

After travelling to Kabul, however, he dismissed reports of his dispute with the Taliban leadership as “media propaganda”. This came despite earlier tensions between him and some Taliban factions in Badakhshan that had brought the two sides close to a large-scale armed confrontation.

Badakhshan has also witnessed several other security developments in recent weeks.

The Sepah-e Mihan Front previously seized Yaftal district for several hours, further heightening concerns over the province’s security situation.

Fateh’s return to Nusay comes as armed clashes continue between the Afghanistan Freedom Front and Taliban forces in Zebak district.

Observers say the simultaneous fighting in Zebak, developments in Yaftali Sufla and growing internal Taliban divisions point to an increasingly complex security situation in Badakhshan.

The province has in recent months become one of the main centres of security challenges and internal tensions within the Taliban.

Recent developments in Nusay, Zebak and Yaftali Sufla suggest that the deployment of forces and the political and security situation in north-eastern Afghanistan are changing rapidly.

Afghanistan International has seen images from the incident showing pieces of the downed drones in a mountainous area.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front, which has been fighting Taliban forces in Zebak for the past three days, has not yet officially commented on the reported downing of the drones.

According to reports, clashes between armed opposition fighters and Taliban forces have continued in Zebak district of Badakhshan for three days.

On Friday, the second day of the fighting, the Afghanistan Freedom Front said it had killed at least 21 Taliban fighters, including several commanders, in attacks on Taliban positions in Zebak. The front said another 37 Taliban members were wounded.

The front said it had seized Taliban bases and positions in the highlands surrounding the Zebak border battalion and forced Taliban forces to retreat.

Officials from the Taliban’s 219 Omar-e-Salis Division confirmed the opposition attack in Zebak district on Friday night.

In a statement, the division said five opposition fighters had been killed and several others wounded in clashes with troops from the Taliban’s 15th Border Brigade. The Taliban has not officially disclosed casualties among its own forces.

Informed sources told Afghanistan International on the first day of the fighting, Thursday, 23 July, that the Taliban had deployed commandos to the area by helicopter and sent additional reinforcements overland.

According to the sources, some wounded Taliban fighters were also flown by helicopter to Faizabad city.

The fighting in Zebak comes days after the newly established Sepah-e Mihan Front attacked Yaftali Sufla district in Badakhshan.

On 17 July, the front’s fighters briefly took control of the district administration building, police headquarters and Taliban intelligence office in Yaftal, and raised their flag over the district building.

Following the intense clashes between Taliban and opposition forces in Zebak, Daoud Naji, head of the Afghanistan Freedom Front’s political committee, said the fight against the Taliban had entered a new phase.

Naji confirmed that the front had launched attacks against Taliban forces in Zebak district of Badakhshan.

Writing on X on Friday, Naji said the decisive battle for liberation has entered a new phase. A battle whose end will be freedom, with the people of Afghanistan as the true winners.

The move comes amid growing tensions over gold mining in Chah Ab district of Takhar province.

In late 2024, the Taliban detained Ghulam Hussain in Chah Ab district.

At the time, Taliban intelligence seized more than 400 light and heavy weapons, several vehicles and a large quantity of ammunition belonging to him.

Ghulam Hussain also spent some time in Taliban custody and, after his release, had been barred from returning to his birthplace in Chah Ab district.

Sources told Afghanistan International on Friday, 24 July, that Taliban restrictions on the commander had been eased over the past week. According to the sources, he had been permitted to return to Chah Ab.

In recent weeks, Chah Ab district has become one of the main centres of tension in northern Afghanistan. Local sources have reported sporadic clashes between Taliban forces and residents over gold mining.

Reports have also emerged of local protests and a deadly Taliban crackdown.

According to the sources, Ghulam Hussain had spent most of this period in Kabul and occasionally travelled to Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province.

They added that he was not permitted to travel elsewhere without the approval of Taliban intelligence.

The Taliban has not officially commented on the matter, and it remains unclear what prompted the group to change its position towards the commander.

Ghulam Hussain was previously a commander under Bashir Qanet, an influential Hezb-e Islami figure in Takhar who was detained under the former government on allegations of harassment, murder and extortion.

Qanet later escaped from prison and joined the Taliban.

Ghulam Hussain was regarded as one of the Taliban’s most influentialTajik commanders in Takhar.

Reports indicate that he profited from the Nooraba gold mine in Chah Ab district and commanded hundreds of armed men.

In a post on X on Saturday, 25 July, Bennett wrote that Afghan refugees in Iran were among the most vulnerable groups and often continued to be overlooked. He also expressed regret over continuing executions in Iran, particularly those involving Afghan migrants.

Earlier, Bennett and a group of independent United Nations human rights experts issued a statement condemning the resumption of military hostilities between Washington and Tehran and the risk of the conflict spreading to other areas.

The UN experts warned that abandoning agreed commitments to end the war would undermine prospects for peace, harm the rights of war victims and destroy the mutual trust needed for a lasting end to the conflict.

They stressed that civilians must not bear the cost of the fighting and that all parties must comply with international human rights and humanitarian law, particularly the principles of distinction between military and civilian targets, proportionality in attacks and precautionary measures to protect civilians.

Concerns Over Damage to Civilian Infrastructure

The UN experts said military attacks and counter-attacks between the United States and Iran on the nights of 12 and 13 July had marked a new phase in the escalation of the crisis and raised fears that the conflict could spread further across the region.

They expressed concern over reports of damage to civilian infrastructure in Iran, including ports, energy networks, transport routes and public service facilities, warning that such attacks could disrupt access to food, medicine and essential services.

People Caught Between Foreign Attacks and Domestic Repression

The statement said that during war and domestic repression, vulnerable groups, including women, children, people with disabilities, minorities, refugees and those living in poverty, suffer disproportionately and are often left unheard.

The UN human rights experts also expressed concern over continuing executions, mass arrests, torture and reports of enforced disappearances in Iran, saying that people in the country were trapped between the consequences of foreign attacks and domestic repression.

They called on all parties to immediately de-escalate tensions, prioritise the protection of civilians and return to dialogue and negotiations to resolve their disputes.