KABUL – Anti-Taliban fighters dealt blow to Taliban forces in remote northeastern province of Badakhshan, leaving at least 21 militants dead, including several senior commanders and dozens more wounded in one of the bloodiest confrontations the group faced since losing power in 2021.
Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), an armed resistance movement that vowed to fight until Taliban is toppled, says its fighters launched coordinated assault on multiple Taliban checkpoints and military installations in the Zebak district late this week. By the time the guns fell silent, the group claims, 21 Taliban fighters lay dead and 37 more were wounded, with several key military positions reduced to rubble.
Afghanistan International reported that the clash was intense, sustained fighting and resulted in significant Taliban losses, including the deaths of high-ranking commanders.
افغانستان فریڈم فرنٹ نے بدخشان میں بڑا حملہ کر دیا، 21 طالبان ہلاک ہونے کا دعویٰ
افغانستان فریڈم فرنٹ (AFF) کے جنگجوؤں نے جمعرات کے روز صوبہ بدخشان کے ضلع زیبک میں طالبان کی متعدد چوکیوں، فوجی یونٹس اور بارڈر بٹالین کے ٹھکانوں پر مختلف اطراف سے بڑے پیمانے پر مربوط حملہ کیا۔
اے… https://t.co/YSismjqViV pic.twitter.com/Vm54dQN9Kz
— Eagle Eye (@zarrar_11PK) July 24, 2026
Taliban’s administration offered no official word on the attack, no confirmation, no denial, no casualty figures of its own. That silence has only fueled speculation that the losses may be even more damaging than the AFF has let on, or that the group is scrambling to control the narrative before the story spreads further.
AFF is far from a lone wolf in this fight. It’s one of several armed factions that have refused to lay down their weapons since the Taliban swept back into power nearly four years ago, running an active insurgency across Afghanistan’s north and northeast, with Badakhshan, Panjshir, Takhar, and Baghlan provinces bearing the brunt of repeated, bloody clashes.
