In Afghanistan, resistance against the Taliban is growing

Over the past month, an anti-Taliban resistance group about which very little is known has publicly announced its formation by launching armed operations in the north-eastern province of Badakhshan. It all began on 17 July, when the Sepahiyan-e Mihan group, which means ‘Front of Patriotic Soldiers’, launched a surprise attack with around 20–25 fighters in the Yaftali Sufla district, one of the most important and strategically significant in the province, occupying the district centre for several hours and effectively causing the Taliban to lose control of a district capital for the first time since they retook Afghanistan five years ago. The group is reportedly made up of activists, former members of the security forces and residents of Badakhshan – more local civilians than professional soldiers – who have joined forces for political and patriotic reasons in response to growing dissatisfaction with the Taliban in the province. Following the raid in which the fighters took control of the local administration building, the police headquarters and the intelligence office, hoisting their flag, the Taliban confirmed the fall of the district, pointing the finger at district officials who were “on leave” during the night-time attack on the headquarters. A few hours later, the Chief of Staff of the Taliban army, Fasihuddin Fitrat, travelled to the district of Yaftali Sufla and told journalists that most of those responsible for the attack had been arrested: the patriotic soldiers denied the reports of the arrests on a Facebook page set up by the group for the occasion, which features an image of the coat of arms depicting the Simurgh, the mythological bird of Khorasan, set against the Hindu Kush mountains, pierced by a dagger.

Behind the bird, the image of the Khorasan sun appears, and above it the golden star of Bactria – all symbols which, according to analysts, refer to Afghan history and culture, particularly that of Badakhshan. The movement is reportedly led by Qayum Malang, who, according to some sources, served as a member of the Afghan special forces under the previous government before joining Ahmad Massoud’s National Resistance Front (NRF) following the fall of Kabul in 2021. Five days after the attack, Malang released his first audio message in which he stated that he was in good health and safe, as were all members of the group, and that the front “has its own plans and objectives”: to prioritise freedom above all else. After withdrawing from Yaftali Sufla, Sepahiyan-e Mihan posted images of the weapons and military equipment it had seized on its Facebook and Telegram channels.

During the same period, the Afghan Freedom Front  (AFF), led by the former Chief of Staff of the Afghan Armed Forces, Yasin Zia, and the National Resistance Front (NRF) led by Ahmad Massoud, launched a number of operations against Taliban units in the Badakhshan region, demonstrating that the province – for years one of the main centres of anti-Taliban activity – is one of the most vulnerable, where opposition groups continue to grow in number. Dawood Naji, head of the AFF’s Political Committee, told Will Selber, a retired officer from US Central Command, that in recent times “the Federal Armed Forces have moved from guerrilla warfare to frontline warfare and direct offensive operations against the Taliban”. Selber writes in the Long War Journal of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies that although “there is no evidence of coordinated operations between the three resistance groups, there are signs pointing to a possible increase in cooperation”; Naji himself told Selber that he has contacts “with all the forces opposing the Taliban because we are fighting for the same goal”. It is a fact that the Taliban, who are approaching the fifth anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan on 15 August, “are facing a more intense operational tempo in Badakhshan”, and that is not all: on 1 August, the Afghan United Front (AUF), led by former Lieutenant General of the Afghan National Army Sami Sadat, claimed responsibility for its first attack in Kandahar and a second operation in Lashkar Gah, in Helmand province. Sadat said he wanted “an Afghanistan free from the Taliban and a return to constitutional order, where civil liberties and citizens’ rights are protected by law”.