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. Instead, they assigned these tasks to outsiders, especially those tied to the Kandahari Taliban. Sources explain that two days ago, a Taliban delegation and 120 members of Unit 01 headed to Badakhshan’s Darwaz district. They aimed to arrest Juma Fateh, a local Taliban official there. But he skipped the meeting and fled the area. Sources spotted some of these fighters in Sheghnan, heading back to Fayzabad. Still, no one knows exactly how many non-local Taliban fighters linger in the Darwaz region.
In Badakhshan, sources confirm that the Taliban stationed about 120 Unit 01 members in Shekai, Nusay, and Maimay districts. The group plans to disarm local fighters or shift them elsewhere. Sources note that the unit arrested Anas, a fighter from the Baharak district who guarded Juma Fateh, the Taliban commander in Darwaz. Sources also mention that the deputy governor, the intelligence head in Badakhshan, and reps from the Ministry of Interior and General Directorate of Intelligence joined the unit in Darwaz. They pushed local fighters to follow leadership orders.
Sources highlight how Juma Fateh, gripped by fear of arrest, hid in remote spots. He dispatched dozens of his soldiers to the mountains and told them to fight back against any detention attempt.
Sources share that the Taliban delegation commanded border fighters near Tajikistan to skip all contact or meetings with Tajik guards. They stressed that talks could only happen with central approval.
Sources add that the Taliban named Juma Fateh, the local commander in Badakhshan’s Darwaz, as governor for Kunduz’s Dasht-e-Archi district. Now, they swap in new fighters for the locals. They transferred the security intelligence director in Shekai. They also moved Juma Fateh’s brother and his full team from the Darwaz battalion to Jawzjan’s border battalion, but he chose to stay home. Sources say leaders ordered Juma Fateh to gather weapons from armed people outside the group’s official ranks.
These sources predict that leaders will soon oust Fasihuddin Fetrat, the Taliban army chief of staff. They point out rising anxiety among the Badakhshan Taliban. The disarmament of locals and the shift in mine revenue control fuel the deepest worries about these changes.
Sources warn that Badakhshan’s new Taliban governor aims to crush local members harder. He plans to seize weapons from fighters soon, calling them “unauthorized individuals,” and clamp down on mines.
This tension builds on earlier source reports linking Juma Fateh to the deaths of two Chinese citizens at the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border. Sources describe how Juma Fateh’s brother and Maternal cousin hosted and then led three East Turkestan fighters from Nusay village to Maimay. In the clash with Tajik guards, two Chinese citizens died. This happened even as the Taliban repeatedly denied Uyghur and Tajik militants’ presence in Afghanistan.
Back then, sources reported that the Taliban jailed three non-Badakhshani Uzbek fighters for negligence. Sources list Qari Misbah-ul-Haq Omar, from the second reconnaissance team; Mubariz Sadr, also from that team; Gul Anbaz Haqjo, a soldier in the second team; Yasin, alias Anas, another soldier there; and Zarqawi, Shekai district’s Taliban security director. They faced charges for moving the Turkestani people from Shekai, but were released recently.
Control of Mines and Sidelining the Local Taliban
Sources insist that the Taliban commanded all local miners without permits to halt work. Sources predict that leaders will soon fire the head of mines and install a Kandahar replacement. One source verifies the dismissal happened already, with a new Kandahar appointee set to arrive in Badakhshan soon. But that source notes the current head’s skill as a deal-maker and bribe-giver. He buys off top officials in the Taliban’s Ministry of Mines, so he might stick around. Sources reveal that Pashtun-origin Taliban told Tajik-origin ones to send company “gold one fifth” straight to Kabul from now on.
At the same time, dozens of Badakhshan miners in Kabul complain that the Taliban Ministry of Mines blocks their applications with excuses. They stress that the land is theirs, and locals agreed on mining spots together. Still, the ministry stalls their files. These Badakhshani miners and contractors say Kandahar now handles site sketches for the Ragh, Ishkashim, and Wakhan areas. Locals get no say in it.
These steps come after weeks of attacks where Taliban militants killed five Chinese citizens in Tajikistan. An organized Taliban strike in Ishkashim district claimed three Chinese lives. Sources then blamed Fazl Khuda Ghurbandi’s mining company, linked to Helmand’s Taliban governor Mawlawi Amanuddin. Sources add that two more fell to Taliban bullets in a firefight with Tajik border guards.
In response, the Tajik presidency’s press office announced that Emomali Rahmon ordered security agencies to assess borders and boost security measures.
This follows an earlier alert from Olarbek Sharshiyev, executive director of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure. He cautioned about rising activity from international terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Syria. He explained that they seek to plant “sleeper cells” in Central Asia. He stated: “Leaders of international terrorist organizations have not abandoned their plans to send militants to Central Asian countries using forged documents through third countries to carry out terrorist attacks, create sleeper cells, secure funding, and run recruitment campaigns to bolster their ranks with new forces.”
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
جابهجایی طالبان در بدخشان؛ مناطق مرزی و معدنی را طالبان پشتونتبار به دست میگیرند
