Conflicts & War

Taliban says 38 rebels killed in northeastern Afghanistan

Kabul, Oct 24 (EFE).- The Taliban said Monday that at least 38 alleged rebels of the National Resistance Front (NRF) were killed and another 78 captured in northeastern Afghanistan.

“During clearance operations in different areas of Badakhshan province in the past week, 38 rebels were killed and 78 others arrested, including two prominent commanders,” said the provincial head of the information and culture department, Maazudin Ahmadi, state news agency Bakhtar reported.

In early October, the NRF claimed that they had captured a district in the Badakhshan province.

Ahmadi added that the province has been “cleared” of rebels in the operations, in which at least three Taliban fighters were killed and five wounded.

The NRF comprises remnants of earlier anti-Taliban groups and former soldiers of the Afghan government, which had taken refuge in Panjshir after being toppled some 14 months ago.

The rebels lost control of Panjshir, the last bastion of anti-Taliban resistance, in September 2021.

The National Resistance Front is led by Ahmad Massoud, the 33-year-old son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, known as the “Lion of the Panjshir” for his struggle against Soviet occupiers in the 1980s and later, against the Taliban.

After weeks of intense fighting and the subsequent seizure of the province by the Taliban, Massoud announced the withdrawal of the rebel forces and fled the country.

However, clashes have broken out recently in Panjshir between suspected NRF rebels and the Taliban.

On Sep. 13, the Taliban government said that at least 41 NRF members, including four commanders, had been killed in the province. EFE

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