On the morning of July 17, 2026, residents of Yaftal-e-Sufla district of Badakhshan woke up to unexpected yet welcome news. In the dead of night, a group of 20 to 25 armed men carried out a surprise attack by storming into the district headquarters, capturing the building, and disarming Taliban personnel there. The group withdrew several hours later before the Taliban could retake the district.
The group behind this surprise attack is a newly formed armed opposition calling themselves “Sepahiyan-e Mihan” (Soldiers of the Homeland or Patriotic Soldiers Front), whose swift and sudden blow to the Taliban resulted in its army chief being dragged to Badakhshan in hopes of quelling any further uprising. In videos circulated on social media, the group’s leader, Abdul Qayum Malang, is seen dressed in camo over the rooftop of the district headquarters, victoriously hoisting their flag. They eventually retreated to the mountains, having successfully stolen weapon caches and Taliban personnel vehicles.
This past Saturday was the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. They commemorated the occasion by crusing through the streets in tanks, Humvees, and motorcycles, firing celebratory shots into the air as they went.
Five years in, the Taliban continue to downplay and deny any internal strife. The group’s Chief of Army Staff Fasihuddin Fitrat, in an interview with local news, said, “Whether it is the National Resistance Front, the Freedom Front or Sepahiyan-e Mihan, they merely want to make their name heard. They cannot confront our security forces.”
But reports on the ground paint a messier picture. The Taliban have responded with apparent alarm to the mutiny of Juma Khan Fateh, one of their prominent commanders in Badakhshan, and sporadic attacks by opposition forces in the north. This suggests they are taking the threats to their rule quite seriously. Fighting broke out between Fateh and Taliban special forces over what analysts believe to be internal disputes rooted in power distribution and mineral rights. During these intense clashes, a helicopter that was transporting the deceased and the injured was also believed to have been downed in Badakhshan by Fateh’s forces. Eventually, as more reinforcements arrived, Fateh surrendered to the Taliban on August 17th and has since been transported to Kabul. But their response suggests they are seriously concerned about festering dissent within their ranks—in addition to the growing external opposition they are facing.
Since 2021, hundreds of the Afghan National Defense Forces were forced into exile or relocation. Special forces units were airlifted to the US and UK while the rest dispersed to neighboring Pakistan, Iran, and Tajikistan. Those who remained in the country faced two difficult choices: either go home and do nothing, expecting prejudice from the new rulers, or join resistance movements and fight back. Many chose to stay home, but some decided to fight back.
The Taliban have persistently said that they have absolute and total control over Afghanistan, including the north where historically most resistance to their rule has been mobilized. Yet following the collapse of the republic, several prominent armed opposition groups emerged and have since regrouped, mobilized, and carried out regular guerrilla attacks. The clashes between the Taliban and other anti-Taliban groups around the country not only contradict their claim of territorial sovereignty, but also give hope to those who thought that the Taliban’s rule was solidified and indefinite.
So who are the armed groups challenging the Taliban at a moment when it is celebrating five years in power?
Not much is known about Sepahiyan-e Mihan, as they surfaced only after their recent attack on Yaftal-e-Sufla in Badakhshan. The group’s leader, however, is believed to have served in Afghanistan’s National Defense and Security Forces and previously with the US Delta Force. He was also seen in photographs with another prominent anti-Taliban commander, Khalid Amiri, who has a background in the former Afghan military. Amiri is a key commander in the National Resistance Front (NRF), playing a vital role in organizing and leading resistance operations. Abdul Qayum Malang reportedly broke away from the NRF due to differences with its leadership and subsequently formed Sepahiyan-e Mihan.
The NRF was formed immediately after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, with members comprised mostly of ethnic Tajiks and former military personnel. They initially retreated to Panjshir Valley along with military personnel and helicopters, hoping to form an armed opposition movement there and creating a frontline of defense against the Taliban. Their efforts to hold onto the Panjshir Valley quickly failed because the groups had no tactical preparations whatsoever prior to the Taliban taking Kabul. The group lost its foothold in the Panjshir Valley in September 2021, and its leaders moved to Tajikistan, where they have maintained a political office ever since.
While the NRF was more of a reaction to the Taliban’s takeover than a calculated or strategically planned initiative, other groups learned their lesson and stayed in the shadows, quietly waiting for the right opportunity. One such group making headlines lately is the Afghanistan United Front (AUF), established in October 2023 by Lieutenant General Sami Sadat, with its political office in Virginia. In an exclusive interview with Middle East Uncovered, the 41-year-old army veteran shared why he ordered his forces to begin combat operations on August 1, 2026:
“In Afghanistan, we have a habit where we fight first and then politicize after, when it should be the other way round,” said the confident general over a phone call from his office in Virginia. “Initially, we started with team building to survey our available assets.” According to him, after the initial team-building phase, the AUF established its structure and eventually built its political capital both in the US and elsewhere around the world. Now, he says “We have entered phase 4, which is the start of combat operations,” with a 5-month delay from their initial planned start date of March 2026. He says Pakistan was keeping the Taliban busy, and it would have been a “tactical advantage to attack then, but strategically we decided to wait until they have expended their firepower and depleted their morale.”
Opposition forces today are scattered, segregated, and appear to be acting ad hoc, with the only commonality between them being opposition to the Taliban and their willingness to take action against them. Each group comes from different backgrounds and has its own unique political agenda. General Sadat, however, believes in cooperation regarding other opposition forces; he says, “Our intentions are aligned despite our political differences; however, for the sake of the country I am more than willing to join forces with anyone who shares the same principles as AUF’s.” Those principles, according to him, are based on the 2004 Afghan constitution, which was ratified and adopted by the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban immediately abolished it when they took over the country.
While General Sadat firmly believes in the constitution’s principles, he warns that he does not want to see the previous ruling class back in power under any circumstances. “We want a new republic to be born, one that is free and comprised of the younger generation of Afghans,” he says.
He already has a plan for the new order, even if it is still too early. “We have created a roadmap to guide us in navigating Afghanistan post-Taliban,” he says. But first they have to defeat them. “We have to go to war and fight the Taliban; only after they are gone can we move to a transitional government, peacebuilding, and reconciliation.”
So how effective have General Sadat and his men been so far? It’s hard to tell. The Taliban continues to deny the activities of any armed opposition group and dismiss them as thugs or insurrectionists, while the resistance forces often inflate the number of attacks or casualties they inflict. Without proper channels to verify these events, most of these claims cannot be confirmed. However, the Secretary-General’s office verified the existence of these armed groups in a 2024 UN report. Of more than 160 claimed attacks, 29 were confirmed to have taken place. More recently, since the start of AUF combat operations, dozens of attacks have been reported across the country.
While General Sadat refrained from sharing some of the confidential aspects of his operations, he did reveal that throughout the years, his forces have been identifying targets within Taliban ranks, especially figures who have actively participated in the arbitrary killings of former Afghan military personnel. “I obviously can’t discuss details, but our operatives have conducted an assessment of Taliban intelligence members, those who have targeted and killed former Afghan military forces, and prominent political figures,” he says.
Critics of General Sadat and other armed opposition groups warn of the endless cycle of bloodshed that will ensue if they are supported and financed. The General, however, is firm in his belief that the Taliban are not going to change; they must be replaced. He rejects the claim that Afghanistan will spiral into a civil war because, in his eyes, his fight is one for the liberation of the people. “We have the people’s will behind us; the Taliban doesn’t have legitimacy exactly because they lack the people’s support since 70% of the population lives in poverty,” he says.
There is a lot of uncertainty about what General Sadat is promising the people of Afghanistan, as it depends on factors beyond the operational capabilities of a group of patriots willing to go all in. For one, logistical and financial support is crucial to sustained and prolonged warfare. One where equipment and weapons can easily flow into the hands of the people fed up and willing to take the fight to the Taliban. This kind of support has historically been provided to the Afghan Mujahideen by the US government to fight against the Soviet Union, and later to the Northern Alliance to fight the Taliban the first time around. Pakistan was crucial to executing this deal, serving as both a middleman in arms dealing and a training ground for Mujahideen militias, while Tajikistan served as the staging ground for the Northern Alliance.
Pakistan’s relationship with the Taliban is strained and does not resemble that of the olden days. The Taliban are aware of that and have already accused the armed opposition groups of being proxies of Pakistan who are tasked with disrupting the “peace” in Afghanistan. General Sadat, however, claims, “We are a citizen- and private-funded organization thanks to our generous donors who are patriots and care deeply about Afghanistan; we have no ties with any government,” he said.
When asked about whether he was willing to accept support from Pakistan, General Sadat said, “We are willing to work with Pakistan if they truly cut off their ties with the Taliban and take decisive measures to ensure they are eradicated,” he added, “I believe at some point our animosity with Pakistan must stop; no legitimate state in Afghanistan had ever clashed with Pakistan directly except the Taliban.”
General Sadat has a long road ahead of him, and he acknowledges and accepts it. So do the rest of his forces. They understand that the help they seek might not come anytime soon, with the world plunged into crisis after crisis. Yet, they are not going to stop trying. He is actively engaged in political discussions in the US and elsewhere, raising awareness in an attempt to put Afghanistan back on the international community’s priority list.
But he wants to make one thing perfectly clear: he does not want to see foreign troops in Afghanistan again. He truly believes that Afghans are more than capable of liberating their country themselves if given the opportunity—and that the fight against the Taliban must ultimately be won by the people of Afghanistan.
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The fight for Afghanistan is not over—but we should be careful about what we mean by “the fight.”
After decades of war, Afghanistan does not simply need another military project, another political formula, or another attempt to impose an external solution. The deeper struggle is over the country’s political future, the rights and dignity of its people, the space for women and girls, and whether Afghans themselves will have a meaningful voice in shaping that future.
From a field perspective, one lesson is difficult to ignore: Afghanistan cannot be understood only through the lens of Kabul, Washington, Islamabad, or any other capital. The reality on the ground has always been more complicated.
The international community may have left the battlefield, but it has not escaped its responsibilities.
The fight is not over. It has simply changed its form.