Fighting between Taliban and fighters loyal to a dissident Taliban commander Juma Fateh has continued sporadically in Nusay district, Badakhshan province, since Tuesday night, local sources told Amu TV on Wednesday.
The clashes in Nusay district involve forces loyal to Juma Fateh, a former Taliban official who has become increasingly critical of Taliban authorities, the sources said.
One source told Amu that both sides had suffered casualties, but no figures were immediately available.
The sources said the Taliban sent additional forces to Nusay on Wednesday morning under the command of Mawlawi Ghulam, the deputy commander of a Taliban military division in Badakhshan.
Fateh and his fighters were positioned in mountainous areas of the district, while Taliban forces were deployed in the district center, according to one of the sources.
Fateh is a dissident Taliban commander from Badakhshan who previously served as the Taliban’s deputy governor of Zabul province. He had also recently traveled to Kabul for meetings with Taliban officials.
In a recent speech, Fateh claimed to command about 10,000 fighters across Afghanistan.
The fighting was continuing sporadically Wednesday, the sources said. Taliban so far have not provided a public account of the clashes or reported casualty figures.
