ISLAMABAD: A newly-emerged anti-Taliban armed group briefly seized control of the strategically important Yaftal-e-Paeen (Yaftali Sufla) district in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province, Afghan media reported on Saturday.
This happens to be the first known instance since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 that an Afghan district temporarily slipped from the group's control.
According to local sources quoted by the Afghan media, between 20 and 25 armed fighters stormed the district headquarters in the early hours of Friday, overpowering Taliban personnel after a brief clash.
“The attackers reportedly took control of the district administration building, police headquarters and intelligence office, raising their own flag over the government compound.”
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show armed men celebrating inside the district center after lowering the Taliban flag, although the footage has not been independently verified.
According to Afghan International, the group, calling itself the Homeland Soldiers Front (HSF), also known as Sepahiyan-e-Mehan (Soldiers of the Homeland), claimed responsibility for the operation.
The group told the Afghan media that its fighters disarmed Taliban personnel, seized weapons, military equipment and government vehicles before withdrawing from the district several hours later.
Meanwhile, Taliban authorities acknowledged to the media the temporary takeover.
Badakhshan police spokesman Ihsanullah Kamgar told local media that the district remained under the control of the attackers for around two hours before Taliban reinforcements arrived.
He claimed seven members of the group were arrested during the operation.
Following the incident, Taliban Army Chief Fasihuddin Fitrat travelled to Badakhshan, where he confirmed that the Homeland Soldiers Front had carried out the attack.
The HSF told the Afghan media that Qayum Malang, a former Afghan Republic-era commando from Yaftal district, led the operation.
According to the group, Malang had previously joined the National Resistance Front (NRF) following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.
Taliban media later presented an arrested man identified as Malang, who said the group had planned to retain the district center and expand operations into neighboring districts but failed to achieve its objectives.
Yaftal-e-Paeen lies close to Faizabad, the provincial capital of Badakhshan, making it one of the province’s strategically significant districts.
Badakhshan has witnessed increasing instability in recent months, with reports of disputes among Taliban commanders, tensions over mining revenues and growing dissatisfaction among local communities over the deployment of Taliban fighters from outside the province.
