ISLAMABAD: An anti-Taliban group claims to have intensified its military campaign against the Afghan Taliban, launching a rocket attack on a regime military convoy and shooting down two of its drones as heavy fighting continues in northeastern Badakhshan Province.
The group, Afghan Freedom Front (AFF), posted on social media platform X that its fighters launched a rocket attack on a Taliban military convoy travelling from Kabul to Badakhshan on Saturday.
Afghan media also reported that the attack took place in Doshi District of Badakhshan province, after AFF guerrilla fighters reportedly tracked the convoy from Kabul to the Northern Salang area.
The convoy was said to be transporting Taliban reinforcements and military equipment destined for Badakhshan Province.
The AFF, in its X post, claimed that seven Taliban fighters were killed and six others wounded in the attack, adding that none of its own fighters were injured during the operation.
The convoy attack came as fierce clashes entered their third consecutive day in Zebak District of Badakhshan, where the AFF says it has been engaged in sustained fighting with Taliban forces.
Drones downed
In a separate post on X, AFF claimed to have destroyed two drones of the Taliban militia on Saturday in Zebak district.
The post said that the downed drones were conducting operations in the AFF-controlled area in Zebak.
The group claimed that in recent days, the Taliban regime has mobilized all available military resources, equipment, and capabilities in an extensive effort to advance toward the strongholds of the AFF.
“However, these attempts have been met with organized resistance and determined defense by freedom fighters, resulting in the failure of the Taliban's offensive operations,” the X post added.
It further said that during these clashes, the Taliban also suffered casualties and sustained material losses.
The group also claimed to have carried out an operation that prevented Taliban helicopters from delivering reinforcements in Zebak district.
“As the helicopters attempted to deploy additional personnel, they came under heavy fire from freedom fighters and were forced to retreat, abandoning their mission and leaving the area.”
21 Taliban fighters killed
On Friday, the AFF claimed it had killed at least 21 Taliban fighters, including several commanders, and wounded another 37 during attacks on Taliban positions in Zebak. The group also said it had seized several Taliban bases and strategic positions in the highlands surrounding the Zebak border battalion, forcing Taliban forces to retreat.
The Taliban's 219 Omar-e-Salis Division acknowledged that opposition fighters had attacked its positions in Zebak. In a statement, the division claimed that five opposition fighters were killed and several others wounded during clashes with troops from the Taliban's 15th Border Brigade. It did not disclose any Taliban casualties.
Sources further told Afghanistan International that the Taliban deployed commandos to the area by helicopter and dispatched additional reinforcements by road after the fighting erupted. Several wounded Taliban fighters were reportedly airlifted to Faizabad for medical treatment.
Resistance has entered 'new phase': AFF
The latest violence follows an attack earlier this month by the newly formed Sepah-e Mihan Front, whose fighters briefly seized government buildings, the police headquarters and the Taliban intelligence office in Yaftali Sufla District on July 17, before raising their flag over the district administration compound.
Commenting on the ongoing operations, Daoud Naji, head of the AFF's political committee, said the resistance had entered "a new phase." In a post on X, Naji described the campaign in Zebak as the beginning of a decisive battle for Afghanistan's liberation, saying the Afghan people would ultimately be the winners.
The claims made by the Afghanistan Freedom Front regarding casualties and battlefield gains, including the reported drone shootdown and convoy attack, could not be independently verified. The Taliban have not publicly responded to the latest convoy attack.
