Hundreds of Families, Mine Workers Trapped Amid Taliban-Fateh Clashes in Badakhshan

DID Press: Hundreds of families and mine workers have been trapped amid ongoing fighting between Taliban forces and fighters loyal to Juma Khan Fateh in Nusay district of northeastern Badakhshan province, local sources said, as markets remain closed and roads have been blocked.

The fighting between the Taliban and Fateh, a dissident Taliban commander, has entered its sixth day, according to local sources. Hundreds of families in Nusay and surrounding areas remain caught in the conflict, with shops closed and residents reportedly unable to leave their homes.

Communications routes linking villages with the district center have been blocked, while Nusay has effectively become a “military zone,” the sources said. Families are struggling to find food and other basic necessities as they seek ways to leave the area.

“Taliban are shooting at our families and are not allowing them to come down from the mountains,” a Nusay resident said in a message, adding that families trapped in the mountains have limited access to food and water amid the summer heat.

Hundreds of mine workers have also been caught in the fighting. Videos shared with Afghanistan International reportedly show miners calling out from rocky terrain and pleading with Taliban forces not to shoot at them.”Please don’t shoot. We are civilians.

We have gone hungry,” one miner was heard saying in the footage.Local sources warned that continued fighting and restrictions on civilians leaving the area could lead to a wider humanitarian crisis.

A small number of families have managed to flee toward Faizabad in pickup trucks and Toyota Datsuns, but hundreds of others remain trapped in the conflict zone, the sources said.