Taliban Official Warns of Possible Spread of Insecurity From Badakhshan Border
Abdul Basir Mazhari, the Taliban administration’s police chief in Badakhshan, warned on Wednesday that armed opponents may enter the province via the Shah Salim Pass and spread insecurity to Badakhshan and other northeastern provinces.
In an interview with Ariana News, he claimed that safe havens and training centres for armed opponents had been established in Pakistan’s Chitral region. According to him, Badakhshan is the only province in northern Afghanistan that borders Pakistan, and opponents of the Taliban administration from the northern provinces have gathered in Chitral.
Mazhari said: “Those who were opposing our system in the northern provinces have all gathered in the Chitral area. It is almost known and established by everyone that centres have been built there for them.”
The warning comes as in recent weeks Zibak district in Badakhshan has seen several rounds of clashes and counterattacks between Forces of the Freedom Front and Taliban administration forces. On 2 August, the Freedom Front said it had captured a number of the Taliban administration’s outposts and border positions in the district.
In response, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting previously rejected Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid’s claim that Pakistani soldiers had supported armed opponents in the Badakhshan clashes, calling it “baseless”. The ministry said no credible evidence had been presented to prove the claim and that the events in Badakhshan were related to Afghanistan’s internal problems.
The Freedom Front has also denied allegations that it receives support from Pakistan, saying it is fighting the Taliban administration with the backing of people inside Afghanistan. The group has also said its forces are made up of former members of the Afghan army and police.
Badakhshan is located in northeastern Afghanistan and borders Pakistan, Tajikistan and China. Zibak district and mountainous routes near the border are among the areas that have repeatedly been mentioned in recent security reports linked to armed opposition movements.
