Armed Resistance Intensifies in Afghanistan as Taliban Face Fighting in Nuristan and Kunar

KABUL: Fighting between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) has intensified in eastern Afghanistan, with clashes reported in Nuristan and Kunar provinces.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front said five Taliban fighters were killed and 10 others wounded during recent fighting in Kamdesh district of Nuristan.

The group also said its fighters captured several Taliban checkpoints and took control of parts of Kamdesh and neighbouring Nari district in Kunar.

Conflicting Accounts of Fighting

Taliban authorities have provided a different account of the clashes, saying opposition fighters were killed and detained while not disclosing Taliban casualties.

Independent verification of the competing casualty figures and territorial-control claims has not been possible.

The AFF has said its forces captured weapons and military equipment and destroyed or disabled several Taliban drones during the fighting.

Pressure on Taliban Regime

The latest clashes add to a series of armed operations claimed by anti-Taliban groups in different parts of Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front and other resistance groups have continued to announce attacks against Taliban positions, although the scale and impact of these operations vary from province to province.

The latest fighting highlights the continuing security challenges facing the Taliban regime more than five years after it returned to power in Afghanistan.