Taliban Assaults Failed In Zebak of Badakhshan, Says AFF

In a statement on Tuesday, Taliban police said Amiri was killed while travelling to his office on the Baharak-Faizabad road. The Taliban said Amiri’s bodyguards killed one of the attackers.

Ehsanullah Kamgar, the Taliban police spokesman in Badakhshan, also said the group had arrested the second perpetrator of the attack.

Earlier, sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban’s head of information and culture in Badakhshan was assassinated on Tuesday, 28 July.

According to the sources, the Taliban official was killed in the Kol Dasht area near Baharak city.

Information received by Afghanistan International indicates that the driver of the Taliban’s head of information and culture in Badakhshan was also wounded in the attack.

Sources said Taliban forces surrounded the area after the attack.

They added that the body of the Taliban official was transferred to Baharak clinic.

Amiri was reportedly attacked while travelling from his home in Baharak towards his office in Faizabad.

No individual or group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban official was assassinated as attacks by armed opponents of the Taliban, particularly the Afghanistan Freedom Front, have increased in Badakhshan in recent days.

Referring to recent developments in Badakhshan, Haqqani said every war should be examined from five perspectives.

He said it was first necessary to identify the attackers and their financiers, determine who was providing them with shelter, establish their objectives and assess how much local support they had in the areas where they were fighting.

The Taliban’s information and culture minister said an examination of these factors showed that “in reality, nothing has happened”.

Haqqani claimed the Taliban administration could prove to the public, “even to opponents and foreigners”, that conditions in Afghanistan were better than before and that “the people are happy and satisfied”.

Speaking on Monday, 27 July, following opposition attacks in Badakhshan, Haqqani described the situation in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as good and unprecedented.

He also claimed that the public was cooperating with the Taliban administration.

In his speech, Haqqani referred to Taliban opponents as “murderers, highway robbers and oppressors” and claimed they had no public support.

His remarks come as political and military groups opposed to the Taliban have carried out offensive operations in north-eastern Afghanistan, particularly in Badakhshan, in recent days.

The attacks began last week when the newly formed Sepah-e Mihan Front briefly seized Yaftal district for several hours.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front has also continued attacks against Taliban forces in Zebak district of Badakhshan.

The front says it has carried out continuous attacks over the past four days and destroyed two Taliban drones.

On Sunday, the Afghanistan Freedom Front claimed that its forces had advanced five kilometres towards the centre of Zebak district and captured two more Taliban posts.

Mujahid dismissed reports of the fighting and claims that Yaftal district had fallen as “media propaganda”.

He said the country had been liberated through the sacrifices and the loss of lives, adding that the Taliban would make twice as many sacrifices to defend it.

The Taliban refers to its suicide attackers as “fedayeen (self-sacrifices)”.

Mujahid’s remarks come after nearly a week of repeated clashes between Taliban forces and the Afghanistan Freedom Front in Zebak district of Badakhshan.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front says it has captured several Taliban posts in Zebak. The Taliban, however, claims it has repelled the opposition attacks.

Head of the Economy Department of South Khorasan Morteza Zakerian said on Sunday at a meeting on investment opportunities in South Khorasan, attended by a Chinese economic delegation, that the administrative process was under way, taking into account the three countries’ geographical, economic and transit potential.

According to Zakerian, the proposal was first presented by the governor of South Khorasan to Iran’s president in December last year. Its aim is to expand economic cooperation through private-sector investment, particularly from Chinese investors.

He said Iran could provide infrastructure, labour and industrial capacity under the plan, while China could contribute investment, financing and technology transfer. Afghanistan, meanwhile, could offer its mineral resources, rare-earth reserves and transit position.

Referring to regional and international developments, Zakerian said the Iran-Afghanistan-China route could serve as a safe, alternative and sustainable corridor for expanding economic relations.

Mojtaba Shariatifar, deputy governor of South Khorasan for economic affairs, said the plan was presented during talks with the Chinese delegation and was welcomed by the Chinese side.

He said the proposal would be pursued through the Chinese embassy and government, and that cooperation agreements were expected to be signed during the Chinese ambassador’s next visit to South Khorasan.

The proposal comes as China has increased its economic presence in Afghanistan in recent years, particularly in the mining sector. Iran is also seeking to use its border with Afghanistan to expand regional trade and attract foreign investment.

Following the suspension of trade relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan because of border and political tensions between the Taliban and Islamabad, Iran has become Afghanistan’s largest trading partner.

Local sources also confirmed the attack on Taliban positions in Kuran Wa Munjan to Afghanistan International.

In a statement on Monday, the National Resistance Front said the operation was carried out at around 1am in the Shahran area of Munjan.

Local Taliban officials have not yet commented on the attack or the reported casualties.

The attack comes amid increased military activity by anti-Taliban groups in Badakhshan in recent days.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front previously reported advances in Zebak district, the downing of Taliban drones and the capture of Taliban posts. The Taliban military, however, claimed it had repelled the opposition attack.