KABUL, Afghanistan: Taliban regime forces shot dead at least seven protesters and wounded several others after opening fire on demonstrators in Yaftal-e-Payan district of Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province, local sources said, adding that the protest erupted following the mistreatment of residents during a Taliban search operation.
Local sources in Badakhshan province said that the Taliban regime forces opened fire on protesters in Yaftal-e-Payan district, resulting in at least seven people killed and several wounded.
تیراندازی طالبان به معترضان در ولسوالی یفتل ولایت بدخشان. pic.twitter.com/Vdqgv1iNTo
— Mukhtar wafayee (@Mukhtarwafayee) August 1, 2026
Residents of Yaftal-e-Payan district took to the streets to protest Taliban regime “oppression and injustice,” the sources said. They said Taliban forces fired on demonstrators while attempting to disperse the crowd.
Taliban forces reportedly opened fire on protesters in Yaftal-e Payin, leaving multiple casualties.
راپورونه وایي چې طالبانو په یفتل پایین کې پر لاریونوالو ډزې کړې چې له امله یې ګڼ تلفات اوښتي دي.#Afghanistan #Badakhshan pic.twitter.com/6zqMUH7JF7
— Baryalai Stanakzai (@uraan3147) August 1, 2026
According to local residents, the protest began after the Taliban searched a woman and mistreated residents of the area. People then gathered in the district centre to protest the Taliban mistreatment of women and local residents.
Videos from the scene show residents transporting the wounded, but the exact casualty figures have not yet been confirmed.
بدخشان:
در تیر اندازی امروز گروه جاهلان بالای افراد ملکی. در والسوالی یفتل ده تن کشته وزخی شدند. pic.twitter.com/YUgqpeROz9— پیام آزادی (@Payam__Azadi) August 1, 2026
The demonstration comes amid growing instability in Badakhshan, where the Taliban regime has faced mounting security and public challenges in recent weeks.
TALIBAN’S DESPERATION OF LOSING POWER
Residents of the Yaftal Payin district in Badakhshan protested against Taliban regime. Locals said the demonstration was due the mistreatment of residents by the Taliban over the past few years.
Sources confirmed that the Taliban opened…
— Kirito⚡🇵🇰⚔️ (@DaKirito_o) August 1, 2026
The province has witnessed repeated clashes between the Taliban regime and armed resistance groups, including the Afghanistan Freedom Front, which has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Taliban regime positions.
Earlier this week, Zabihullah Amiri, the Taliban regime’s director of information and culture in Badakhshan, was killed in a gun attack in the province. Taliban regime said one suspect was arrested and another was killed following the attack.
Badakhshan has also experienced public unrest in recent months, including protests linked to the Taliban’s anti-narcotics campaign and poppy eradication efforts, which have at times turned deadly.
Saturday’s protest in Yaftal-e-Payan is the latest sign of mounting tensions in a province that has become one of the Taliban’s most volatile regions nearly five years after their return to power.
Meanwhile, local sources said a Taliban regime checkpoint was targeted in a rocket attack on Wednesday night. The checkpoint is located within Faizabad city opposite Badakhshan University.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and local Taliban regime officials have not commented on either the recent detentions or the incident in Faizabad.
Sources in Zebak district also said scattered clashes between the Taliban regime and the Afghanistan Freedom Front were continuing.
They said the Taliban had deployed a large number of forces to the district.
