Gunmen Target Taliban Intelligence Headquarters in Badakhshan

DID Press: Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a Taliban intelligence office in Faizabad, the capital of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, on Saturday, local sources said, as security forces tightened control over the area following the attack.

According to local sources, the shooting targeted the Taliban’s intelligence directorate in Faizabad’s New City district while a meeting involving a delegation from Kabul was reportedly taking place inside the building. The assailants fled the scene after the attack, and no group has claimed responsibility.

Residents said Taliban forces sealed off the area immediately after the incident and deployed a Humvee armored vehicle outside the intelligence headquarters. Taliban authorities have not yet issued an official statement.

The attack comes amid a recent increase in security incidents across Badakhshan. Earlier on Saturday, residents of Yaftal-e Payin district staged protests against what they described as Taliban repression. Local sources said Taliban forces opened fire on demonstrators, causing casualties, although the exact number of those killed or injured has not been independently confirmed.

Tensions in Yaftal-e Payin have intensified since the district briefly fell to the newly formed Sepah-e Mihan (Homeland Front) on July 17, when its fighters reportedly disarmed Taliban personnel, raised their flag over government buildings, and later withdrew. Protesters have since called for the removal of what they describe as “non-local Taliban” from Badakhshan.

Armed opposition activity has also increased elsewhere in the province. The Afghanistan Freedom Front recently reported clashes with Taliban forces in Zebak district, while the National Resistance Front, led by Ahmad Massoud, said it had killed a Taliban member in Kuran wa Munjan district.

In addition to armed opposition groups, the Taliban have faced attacks claimed by the regional branch of the Islamic State. Four days ago, the head of the Taliban’s Information and Culture Department in Badakhshan was killed in Baharak district in an attack claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).