Intense fighting between Taliban forces and fighters loyal to dissident commander Juma Khan Fateh is continuing in Nusay district of Badakhshan, with Fateh calling on his forces and local residents to join the fighting against the Taliban administration.
Fateh confirmed the ongoing clashes in an audio message issued on Wednesday, August 12, urging his men and the local population to take up the fight. His appeal came as fighting that began Tuesday evening spread across several areas of Nusay.
Local sources said the clashes erupted after Taliban forces launched an attack against fighters operating under Fateh’s command. Heavy fighting was subsequently reported in Khughaz and other parts of Nusay, where Fateh’s forces maintain a presence.
The clashes reportedly involve casualties on both sides, with fighters killed and wounded as the confrontation continues.
Mining Dispute Opens a New Front
The confrontation follows months of escalating tensions between Fateh and the Taliban administration over mining activities in Badakhshan. The dispute has steadily deepened into an open power struggle, with Fateh ultimately refusing to assume a Taliban-appointed position after members of his family were detained by the Taliban governor of Badakhshan in connection with the mining dispute.
Fateh had previously served as the Taliban’s deputy governor of Zabul. After he declined to take up the position, the Taliban leadership removed him from the post.
In recent weeks, Fateh travelled to Kabul and claimed that he had met the Taliban prime minister, apparently seeking to resolve the growing dispute. The latest fighting, however, suggests that those efforts failed to produce a settlement.
The deployment of Taliban helicopters to Nusay further indicates the intensity of the confrontation. Sources said the helicopters were sent to evacuate Taliban personnel killed and wounded in the clashes, although permission had reportedly not yet been granted to remove the bodies of some Taliban special forces members killed in the fighting.
With fighting continuing across multiple locations, the confrontation in Nusay represents a significant challenge to the Taliban’s control in Badakhshan and raises the prospect of the mining dispute evolving into a broader armed confrontation between the Taliban administration and one of its former commanders.
