Afghanistan International: The Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has approved the deployment of 1,000 fighters to protect gold mining operations in Badakhshan province, according to the Taliban-appointed governor. In recent months, clashes have occurred between local residents and Taliban-linked mining companies in the province. Click here to read more (externa link).
Afghanistan International: The Afghanistan Freedom Front says its forces carried out an attack on a Taliban watchtower in Baharak district of Badakhshan province on Friday evening, killing two Taliban members. Local sources earlier confirmed to Afghanistan International that an explosion had occurred in the area. According to the sources, Taliban forces blocked roads leading to
Afghanistan International: According to a document obtained by Afghanistan International, the Taliban’s Council of Clerics in Badakhshan has offered financial rewards and security guarantees to Ismaili Muslims who convert to Sunni Islam. Sources say conversions are being enforced through threats and intimidation. The document shows that the Taliban clerics’ council in Badakhshan has drawn up
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi January 11, 2026 A deadly confrontation at a gold mine in northern Afghanistan has cast new light on the Taliban’s push to expand gold extraction, raising questions about the largely unregulated operations and their foreign — mostly Chinese — backing. The latest incident comes as the Interior Ministry of the Taliban
Afghanistan International: The latest incident occurred on Thursday evening in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, where armed men shot and killed Mohammad Shah, an Ismaili resident originally from Shighnan district. Shah, who worked for a private office in the province, was attacked in the Dasht-e-Qargh area while returning home from a bakery, according to eyewitnesses.
8am: According to the sources, his decapitated body was later found in the Yaftal district. The sources added that Naser had served in the previous government within the police headquarters of Takhar and Badakhshan provinces. The sources did not specify who or which group was responsible for the killing. According to Hasht-e Subh Daily findings,
8am: The Taliban started replacing their Tajik-origin fighters with Pashtun-origin ones after militants from the group killed five Chinese citizens in Tajikistan. Sources reveal that the group decided to transfer and disarm some Tajik-origin fighters. At the same time, they stripped local Taliban members of duties like collecting mine revenues and distributing land for extraction.
8am: Sources in Badakhshan say Taliban forces and their affiliated mining operatives deliberately targeted the five Chinese citizens who were killed last week on Tajikistan’s soil. According to these sources, clashes erupted between Taliban fighters and Tajik border guards, during which gunfire killed two of the victims. A separate, coordinated drone attack carried out by
8am: Several shopkeepers in Mina Bazaar in the city of Fayzabad, the center of Badakhshan province, say the Taliban, after renovating their shops, are now reselling them back to them at exorbitant prices. These shopkeepers add that they purchased their shops years ago and hold official ownership documents, but the Taliban-run municipality in Fayzabad does
Afghanistan International: Local sources reported renewed clashes early Wednesday in the Shahr-e-Buzurg district between Taliban units and fighters loyal to Abdul Rahman Ammar, the group’s former provincial head of mining. The clashes, which have continued for several days, pit Ammar’s forces against those of Shafiqullah Hafizi, the Taliban’s current head of mining in Badakhshan, in