KABUL, Afghanistan: Former Afghan army general Sami Sadaat has warned that the Taliban regime is weakening five years after returning to power, saying the resistance against the regime has gained momentum and “bigger surprises” are coming in the days ahead.
In an audio message, Sadaat pointed to the decision by dissident Taliban regime commander Juma Khan Fateh to join the Afghanistan United Front as a development that had strengthened armed opposition to the Taliban regime.
Gen. Sami Saadat’s latest audio message delivers a clear warning: after five years, the Taliban regime is weakening.
Juma Fateh Khan’s decision to join the Afghanistan United Front has further strengthened the resistance.
Bigger surprises are coming for the Taliban in the days… pic.twitter.com/XJ3RwnI51S— Open Secrets (@OpenSecrets7Ave) August 15, 2026
General Sadaat’s remarks came as fighting between Taliban regime forces and fighters loyal to Fateh entered its fifth day in Nusay district of northern Badakhshan province.
The latest clashes have added to a series of armed confrontations and attacks reported in Badakhshan and other parts of Afghanistan, raising questions over whether growing resistance could pose a greater challenge to the Taliban regime.
Heavy fighting in Nusay
Afghan media reports said Taliban regime forces attempted to enter Nusay on Saturday morning, prompting fighters loyal to Fateh to open fire.
Heavy clashes were reported throughout the day. Several Taliban regime fighters were reportedly killed.
𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗬 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗡𝗨𝗦𝗔𝗬: On the morning of 15th August, when TTA forces attempted to enter Nusay, Juma Khan’s fighters opened fire on Hibatullah’s forces. Heavy clashes have been ongoing since morning inflicting severe casualties on Taliban forces with multiple… pic.twitter.com/KkyabOygSk
— Pak-Afghan Matters (@pakafghanmatter) August 15, 2026
Fateh’s forces also reportedly repelled a Taliban regime attack in Madud village, killing two Taliban fighters and surrounding several others, according to reports.
A local resident who contacted sources using a Tajik SIM card said the Taliban regime had cut Wi-Fi and other communications across the area.
Sadaat orders nationwide operations
Sami Sadaat has emerged as one of the prominent former Afghan military figures backing armed opposition to the Taliban regime.
On 2 August, about two weeks after Taliban regime forces briefly lost control of the district centre of Yaftal-e Payeen in Badakhshan, Sadaat said he had ordered United Front forces to begin military operations against the Taliban regime.
“Today at 5:00 AM, I ordered all military members of the United Front to begin military operations,” Sadaat said in a video message.
د افغانستان متحدی جبههی محارب عملیاتو د شروع امر صادر سو!
امر شروع عملیات محارب جبهه متحد صادر شد! pic.twitter.com/a3N4KlY0zA— Sami Sadat (@SayedSamiSadat) August 2, 2026
The reported loss of the Yaftal-e Payeen district centre was significant because it marked the first reported instance of the Taliban regime losing control of a district centre since returning to power in August 2021.
Reports from Badakhshan have also pointed to internal clashes involving Taliban regime fighters and attacks that killed senior Taliban regime officials.
United Front claims attacks in south
The United Front of Afghanistan said on Friday, 14 August, that its forces had carried out three operations against Taliban regime forces in Helmand and Kandahar provinces during the previous 24 hours.
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 province.
It also claimed that two other Taliban regime members were targeted in a separate operation in the Bolan area of Lashkar Gah’s seventh police district.
In Daman district of Kandahar province, the group said its fighters targeted another 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.
Resistance to Taliban regime
The United Front is not the only armed group challenging the Taliban regime.
The National Resistance Front, led by Ahmad Shah Massoud’s son, has maintained an armed campaign against the Taliban regime since 2021.
While armed opposition groups have so far failed to pose a major threat to the Taliban regime’s overall hold on power, recent fighting in Badakhshan has prompted questions over whether resistance could become more consequential.
“In these five years, this opposition existed in two forms: political and military… As the five-year mark approaches, both forms of opposition have taken shape,” former Afghan Interior Minister Mohammad Umer Daudzai told German broadcaster DW.
The developments come as Afghanistan approaches the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power.
The Taliban regime has imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including bans on employment and education beyond the sixth grade. Women have also been largely excluded from public life.
