How anti-Taliban fighters seized Afghan district on Pakistan borders

An armed anti-Taliban group claimed it briefly seized the Yaftal-e-Paeen district headquarters in Afghanistan's Badakhshan for hours before withdrawing. While the Taliban said it quickly restored control, if verified, it would mark the first known instance since it returned to power in 2021 when an Afghan district headquarters briefly slipped from its control.An AI-enhanced visual based on a screengrab from one of the viral clips that purportedly captured the brief takeover of Yaftal-e-Paeen district headquarters. (Image: Social Media/AI)For several hours early on Friday, July 17, an armed anti-Taliban group claimed to have taken control of the Yaftal-e-Paeen district headquarters in Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province, bordering Pakistan.Local sources cited by multiple Afghan media outlets said the fighters disarmed Taliban personnel, occupied the district administration building and raised the flag of a newly announced group calling itself Sepahian-e Mihan (Soldiers of the Homeland). Taliban authorities acknowledged an overnight attack and downplayed it. The regime said security forces retook the district within hours, arrested several suspects and restored order.While the alleged siege lasted briefly, if independently confirmed, it would mark the first known instance since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 that an Afghan district headquarters temporarily slipped from its control, reported online news outlet The Kabul Tribune.According to BBC Urdu, the group, Sepahian-e Mihan, is led by Qayum Khan Malang, a former Afghan National Army officer who later fought with Ahmad Massoud's National Resistance Front (NRF) before forming his own armed outfit in Badakhshan. During the US-backed government in Afghanistan, he trained and fought alongside US Delta Force units. The Taliban dismissed the attackers as a propaganda outfit incapable of mounting any sustained resistance.Since returning to power in 2021 after the collapse of the US-backed Afghan government, the Taliban has largely maintained territorial control despite sporadic attacks by armed resistance groups such as the NRF and the Afghanistan Freedom Front. The alleged siege of the district headquarters in Badakhshan province reminds one of the news reports from the years before the Taliban took over. Back then, media outlets often reported that a few districts that were in control of the Taliban or other armed groups changed hands during the insurgency. No anti-Taliban group had publicly demonstrated even temporary control over the district headquarters.Badakhshan, a mountainous province in northeastern Afghanistan, borders Tajikistan, China and India's Gilgit-Baltistan, which Pakistan illegally occupied in 1948. The strategic Wakhan Corridor links Afghanistan to China. Badakhshan also shares boundaries with Takhar, Panjshir and Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan.The region has also remained strategically important because of its proximity to the Panjshir Valley, where anti-Taliban groups led by the Northern Alliance put up an armed resistance for years. That continued even after Kabul fell to the Taliban, but now appears to have subsided. Led by Ahmad Massoud, son of the late anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, the "Lion of Panjshir", the group is now seeking international backing for a broader anti-Taliban political front. Meanwhile, smaller groups continue to wage a low-intensity insurgency.The reported Yaftal incident comes amid renewed claims by smaller armed groups seeking to establish themselves as a challenger to Taliban rule.WHAT HAPPENED IN AFGHAN'S DISTRICT BORDERING CHINA, INDIA, TAJIKISTAN?According to local sources cited by The Kabul Tribune and Amu TV, dozens of anti-Taliban fighters launched an assault on the Yaftal-e-Paeen district headquarters early Friday (July 17) morning.Citing local sources, BBC Urdu reported that armed anti-Taliban fighters briefly seized the Yaftal-e-Paeen district headquarters in Badakhshan before withdrawing several hours later, after which Taliban forces re-established control.The sources told The Kabul Tribune and Amu TV that the fighters disarmed Taliban personnel stationed there, took control of the district administration building and hoisted the flag of a newly announced armed group identifying itself as Sepahian-e Mihan.The fighters reportedly remained in control for several hours before withdrawing. Their destination remains unknown.TALIBAN CONFIRMED AN ATTACK, DENIED ANY MAJOR SETBACKThe Taliban acknowledged that an attack had occurred but rejected suggestions that it reflected any serious security breach.According to the Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, the Badakhshan provincial police said, "A number of irresponsible armed persons attacked Yaftal-e-Payeen district late Thursday when senior security officials were on holiday, but were dispersed within hours after the arrival of security forces in the area."The police added that some attackers had been arrested and operations were continuing to apprehend everyone involved.BBC Urdu quoted Badakhshan police as saying that "because senior district officials were on leave", "a few irresponsible individuals" attacked the district headquarters overnight before security forces recaptured it within hours.Badakhshan Provincial Police Command spokesperson Ehsanullah Kamgar, quoted by BBC Urdu, later said "nine people had been arrested", while efforts continued to capture "two remaining suspects". He added that those detained were "local residents" and "could be transferred to Kabul" if necessary.The police spokesperson also acknowledged lapses by local officials, saying, "There was certainly negligence in the performance of duty, and those responsible will have to answer for it."TALIBAN ARMY CHIEF CALLED THE ALLEGED SIEGE PROPAGANDAAfter visiting Badakhshan following the attack, Taliban Army Chief of Staff Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat dismissed the operation as a publicity stunt.According to the BBC, Fitrat said, "Different groups emerge only to show their presence and occasionally raise a flag somewhere. Whether it is the National Resistance Front, the Freedom Front or Sipahiyan-e-Mihan, they merely want to make their name heard. They cannot confront our security forces."Xinhua, citing TOLOnews, reported a similar statement from Fitrat."Different groups, which exist only in name and not in reality, are making propaganda to hoist a flag, but in fact these so-called opposition groups cannot resist our security forces," he said.Fitrat also said those arrested had identified themselves as members of the newly formed Sepahian-e-Maihan during questioning.The BBC added that Fitrat suggested foreign intelligence agencies "may have played a role", although he said he did not confirm that with certainty.WHO ARE THE SIPAHIYAN-E-MIHAN OR SOLDIERS OF THE HOMELAND?The group identifying itself as "Sipahiyan-e-Mihan" or "Sepahian-e Mihan", translates as "Soldiers of the Homeland", had not previously figured prominently among Afghanistan's armed opposition groups.According to local sources cited by The Kabul Tribune and Amu TV, the fighters announced the group's existence during the operation by raising its flag over the district headquarters.The BBC quoted police spokesperson Ehsanullah Kamgar as saying the organisation was "a newly emerged group" and that people were hearing about it for the first time. He added that such groups often "changed their names and flags within a day".The group's emblem has also drawn attention. It features symbols such as the Simurgh, the sun, the Hindu Kush mountains, lapis lazuli, a sword and a star, according to a report in the Afghan International. It reported that people on social media and some former Afghan officials said the imagery reflected Afghanistan's history, geography and cultural identity rather than any specific ideological or foreign affiliation.WHO IS QAYUM KHAN MALANG, THE LEADER OF SIPAHIYAN-EMIHAN?The BBC identified the group's leader as Qayum Khan Malang, whom Afghan political activist Abdul Momin Zia said is actually Abdul Qayum Shikari from Koh Bala village in Yaftal district.According to the BBC's report, Malang completed schooling up to Grade 12 before joining the Afghan National Army under the former US-backed republic. He later trained and fought alongside US Delta Force units during operations against the Taliban and reportedly led one Delta Force-supported team.Following the Taliban takeover in 2021, he joined Ahmad Massoud's NRF in Panjshir.BBC said he later split from the NRF after disagreements with its leadership, returned to Badakhshan, struggled financially, and eventually established his own small armed group.Former Afghan ambassador to the United Nations Mahmood Saikal also identified him as a former Afghan National Army officer.While the alleged siege of Yaftal lasted only a few hours and the Taliban said the district was retaken, it has drawn attention as it is the first reported case since August 2021 in which anti-Taliban fighters are said to have seized a district headquarters. The attack does not change the balance of power in Afghanistan. It highlights that armed opposition to the Taliban continues to evolve even after five years since it returned to power.- EndsPublished By: Shounak SanyalPublished On: Jul 21, 2026 07:30 IST