The Taliban’s police command in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province has confirmed that a protest in Yaftal-e Payeen district over allegations that a woman was subjected to a body search escalated into clashes with Taliban forces, while local sources said at least one protester was killed and several others wounded.
According to IRAF, Ehsanullah Kamgar, spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Badakhshan, said the protest took place on Saturday after residents reacted to allegations that a woman had been subjected to a body search at a Taliban checkpoint.
Kamgar said Taliban personnel became suspicious of a man and a woman riding a motorcycle on suspicion of transporting narcotics. He claimed that while officers were inspecting their belongings, the male companion fled the scene and alleged that the woman had been subjected to a body search.
According to Kamgar, the allegation prompted a group of residents, whom he said acted “without knowing the facts,” to attack a security checkpoint.
The Taliban spokesperson accused what he described as “malicious and troublemaking individuals” of inciting the crowd but did not provide any information on casualties.
Local sources and staff at Badakhshan hospital, however, said Taliban forces opened fire to disperse the protesters. They said at least one protester was killed and several others were injured.
Videos circulating from the scene appear to show gunfire and the evacuation of wounded people.
Residents said the demonstration was held in protest against what they described as abuse and inappropriate conduct by Taliban forces.
Badakhshan has witnessed a series of security incidents in recent weeks, adding to tensions across the province.
Days earlier, Zabihullah Amiri, the Taliban’s head of Information and Culture in Badakhshan, was killed in an armed attack. Before that, a group identifying itself as the Sepahian-e Mihan Front briefly seized control of Yaftal-e Payeen district.
Local sources have also reported separate clashes between Taliban forces and members of the Afghanistan Freedom Front in Zebak district, with both sides offering conflicting accounts of casualties.
In addition, a rocket attack targeting Taliban reinforcements en route to Badakhshan was reported, while attacks on the district police headquarters in Daraim and increased activity by armed groups have further heightened security concerns in the province.
The latest protest underscores the increasingly volatile security situation in Badakhshan, where a series of armed incidents and local unrest have left the province in a fragile state, with even localized disputes rapidly escalating into violence.
