Taliban Commander Claims Control of Thousands of Fighters in Badakhshan

DID Press: Reports from northern Afghanistan indicate rising tensions in Badakhshan Province, where internal power struggles within the Taliban have intensified alongside disputes over resource control.

Juma Khan Fateh, a Tajik-origin Taliban commander and deputy governor in Zabul, has rejected claims of internal rifts with the Kandahar leadership while asserting that he commands thousands of armed fighters across northern Afghanistan.

He claimed that only in the Nasi district he commands around 2,500 fighters, with a total force of approximately 10,000 under his influence in the north, insisting that his units operate fully within the Taliban structure.

However, local sources present a different picture, reporting escalating clashes between forces aligned with Fateh and Kandahar-backed Taliban factions over control of gold mines in Shiki district, with at least two civilian deaths reported in recent incidents.

Separate reports also suggest that Musa Kaka, a close associate of Fateh, was detained by Taliban intelligence on allegations of land grabbing and illegal gold extraction.

Additional accounts indicate that Fateh has agreed in meetings with Taliban military officials to disarm部分 of his forces and relocate back to Zabul, a move seen by analysts as a sign of declining influence in Badakhshan.

The developments highlight ongoing structural tensions within the Taliban over economic resources, ethnic influence, and centralized control, particularly in northern regions where local power networks remain deeply contested.