KABUL, Afghanistan: Clashes broke out between the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) and Taliban regime forces in Zebak district of northern Badakhshan province on Saturday, according to local sources cited by Afghanistan International, as fighting also intensified in neighbouring Nusay district.
The clashes in Zebak took place in the Topkhana area, with both sides using light and heavy weapons, the sources said.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front had earlier announced a “pre-emptive attack” on Taliban regime positions in the Zebak district.
Local sources, cited by Afghanistan International, also reported that a Taliban regime vehicle veered off a road in Zebak and fell into a river. Everyone inside the vehicle was killed, they said.
The vehicle was reportedly carrying a DShK heavy machine gun to the front line when the accident occurred.
Sources in Faizabad, the provincial capital, meanwhile said Taliban regime helicopters had resumed flights towards Zebak over the past several hours.
Communications shutdown in Nusay
The latest fighting in Zebak comes as the security situation in Nusay district remains tense.
A Nusay resident told Afghanistan International on Saturday that the military situation had worsened, with Taliban regime forces imposing a night-time curfew and shutting down telecommunications networks across the district.
The resident said he contacted Afghanistan International through a Tajik mobile internet network because the Taliban regime had cut telephone communications and confiscated Wi-Fi devices.
According to the resident, the Taliban regime announced in the district centre that all gatherings and movement after dark were prohibited and that violators would face severe punishment.
He said the use of phones, watching television and other forms of communication had also been banned. Residents were reportedly too afraid to leave their homes even during the day.
The resident further alleged that an elderly man died after Taliban regime forces prevented him from entering the district clinic.
Sources previously told Afghanistan International that Taliban regime intelligence forces had taken control of the district’s health centre and removed patients and local medical staff.
Other sources said clashes had spread to the Shakh Dara area, which is controlled by forces loyal to dissident Taliban regime commander Juma Khan Fateh.
🚨BREAKING🚨
Fighting between Taliban forces and fighters loyal to commander Juma Khan Fateh has entered its fifth day in Nusay district, Badakhshan.Fateh’s forces repelled a Taliban attack in Madud village, killing two fighters and surrounding several others. pic.twitter.com/m0pA4QN438
— Iris Recon (@IrisRecon) August 15, 2026
Fighting between Taliban and dissident commander
The fighting involving Fateh’s forces has entered a fifth consecutive day, according to local sources cited by Amu TV.
Fateh is a former Taliban commander who has been involved in a confrontation with Taliban regime forces in Nusay.
Since Friday, the Taliban regime has deployed thousands of fresh troops, along with heavy ground and air equipment, against forces loyal to Fateh.
Sources in the nearby districts of Shekay, Kuf Ab and Maimay also said pressure on civilians had increased.
They said several local residents had been detained by Taliban regime intelligence forces.
Also Read: United Front of Afghanistan Attacks Taliban Regime Positions in Helmand and Kandahar
Local sources previously told Amu TV that Fateh’s forces had brought down a Taliban regime helicopter carrying ammunition on Wednesday.
The Taliban regime’s Defence Ministry rejected the claim and said the helicopter was damaged while landing after one of its blades struck an electricity pole.
Anti-Taliban attacks in south
The fighting in Badakhshan comes amid a series of attacks claimed by other anti-Taliban groups in different parts of Afghanistan.
The United Front of Afghanistan said its forces carried out three operations against Taliban regime forces in Helmand and Kandahar provinces over a 24-hour period.
The resistance group said two Taliban regime police officers were killed and two others wounded in an attack on the Taliban regime’s first police district in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand.
It said two other Taliban regime members were targeted in a separate operation in the Bolan area of Lashkar Gah’s seventh police district.
In another operation in Daman district of Kandahar, the group said its forces targeted a Taliban regime member.
The United Front said those targeted had been involved in the detention, torture and killing of security and defence personnel who served under Afghanistan’s former government.
