KABUL, Afghanistan: Anti-Taliban fronts have carried out at least 50 attacks across Afghanistan over the past month. The Freedom Front, United Front and National Resistance Front claimed the attacks left dozens of Taliban regime members dead and injured.
Attacks by anti-Taliban fronts increased sharply in August, ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Taliban rule of Afghanistan. The armed opposition group’s military strategy also shifted significantly during the month from guerrilla attacks towards more conventional front-line fighting against the Taliban regime.
A new phase of armed opposition began after the newly established Sepahiyan-e Mihan Front briefly took control of Yaftal district in Badakhshan on 17 July. Opposition fronts then intensified attacks against the Taliban regime from early August.
Afghanistan Freedom Front
Following heavy fighting between the Taliban regime and opposition forces in Zebak district of Badakhshan, Daoud Naji, head of the Afghanistan Freedom Front’s political committee, said on 24 July that the conflict had entered a new phase.
Daoud Naji announced the start of front-line fighting between Freedom Front forces and the Taliban regime forces in Zebak.
Naji said that the decisive battle against the Taliban for liberation has entered a new phase; a battle whose end will be freedom and whose true winners will be the people of Afghanistan.
Between 23 July and 22 August, the Afghanistan Freedom Front claimed responsibility for 21 attacks against the Taliban regime in eight provinces.
The armed group’s main focus over the past month was Zebak district in Badakhshan, but it also reported attacks in Baghlan, Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Faryab, Nuristan and Panjshir provinces of Afghanistan.
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On Friday, the Freedom Front said it had expanded its armed operations against the Taliban regime to eight provinces during the previous Afghan month and carried out at least 21 guerrilla and front-line operations. The group claimed that at least 65 Taliban regime members were killed and about 90 others wounded.
United Front of Afghanistan
After announcing the start of its military operations against the Taliban regime, the United Front of Afghanistan carried out its first attack in Kandahar on 1 August.
By 20 August, the armed group had reported around 20 attacks against the Taliban regime in Kandahar, Helmand, Badghis, Ghor, Faryab provinces and several other parts of Afghanistan.
According to the armed opposition group, dozens of Taliban regime fighters were killed during its attacks.
During this period, the United Front also released videos that it said showed the bodies of Taliban regime forces in different areas of Afghanistan.
The armed group, led by Sami Sadat, a former commander of Afghanistan’s special forces, announced on 1 August that it had begun military operations against the Taliban regime and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
National Resistance Front
Between 29 July and 29 August, the National Resistance Front reported nine attacks against the Taliban regime in different provinces of Afghanistan. The armed group claimed that dozens of Taliban regime members were killed or wounded during the attacks.
According to statements issued by the NRF during this period, its forces carried out attacks in Badakhshan, Kunduz, Herat and Baghlan provinces of Afghanistan.
On 13 August, the NRF said its forces killed Habib-ur-Rahman Mansour, the Taliban regime-appointed mayor of Faizabad, and his guards in a targeted attack.
In response, the Taliban regime killed Hasib Panjshiri, a senior NRF commander, and several of his companions in a clash in northern Salang on 20 August.
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The recent increase in attacks by anti-Taliban groups comes as Taliban regime members continue to insist that security has been established across Afghanistan.
Earlier, anti-Taliban groups said that they carried out at least 15 attacks on Taliban regime positions in nine provinces of Afghanistan within one week.
Analysts have cited growing public support for anti-Taliban groups and criticism of Taliban rule as factors behind the expansion of these attacks.
Another notable development is that attacks previously dominated by guerrilla tactics have increasingly shifted towards direct front-line confrontation. Badakhshan, particularly the districts of Zebak, Yaftal, Kishm and Yamgan, has become one of the main centres of the fighting.
The increase in opposition groups’ attacks comes as the Taliban regime, since returning to power in 2021, has repeatedly claimed to have established security throughout Afghanistan.
Anti-Taliban fronts, however, say they will continue their armed campaign and have expanded operations to several provinces in recent months.
