Rebels take control
Taliban lose territory in Afghanistan for the first time
10/04/2022 12:06 p.m
The Taliban have been in power in Afghanistan for a year. Now the resistance movement “National Resistance Front” is said to have recaptured a region in the north of the country for the first time. A spokesman reports that some of the Taliban have been captured, and others have even defected.
In Afghanistan, the national resistance movement “National Resistance Front” (NRF) has claimed part of the north-eastern province of Badakhshan from the Taliban. A local resident confirmed that the Shekai district, which has a population of around 30,000, has been partially under rebel control since Monday. For the Taliban, it would be the first area they lose to the resistance movement. They firmly rejected the representation. The information could not initially be verified independently.
An NRF spokesman told local media that the rebels had captured 10 Taliban fighters, including the district governor. A “large number of former security forces and Taliban members” defected. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Kabul called the NRF’s statements “lies” and “false rumours”. However, a Taliban representative from Badakhshan confirmed the arrest of the governor to the dpa. Shekai District is located on the border with Tajikistan.
In September, NRF leader Ahmed Massoud spoke out in favor of joining forces with other opposition figures and standing united against the Taliban. “The Taliban can only remain in power if we are divided,” he said at an opposition conference of Afghan exiles in Vienna. He wants to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. If, as in the past, they do not engage in serious talks, more pressure must be exerted by the population and the international community.
The militant Islamist Taliban have been back in power in Afghanistan since August 2021. Alongside the Islamic State terrorist militia, the “National Resistance Front” is the biggest competitor to the Taliban. The US and Great Britain, both of which had troops in Afghanistan until 2021, do not want to support the armed resistance against the Taliban this year. However, fighting in the Panjshir Valley, the birthplace of the NRF, is intensifying.