New, verified resistance activity and attacks in Kabul
As well as activity in Panjshir and Baghlan provinces, AW has also monitored and verified resistance activity in Kabul.
30 Jun 2022
Afghan Witness (AW) has been able to monitor and verify new resistance activity in Kabul, where activity by several resistance groups has been identified - marking the first verified resistance activity in Kabul since the Taliban took power, and the first verified resistance activity in the area east of Kabul.
The area to the east of Kabul has also seen recent activity from Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP), with a claimed attack and Taliban raid on an alleged ISKP safehouse in the same area.
On April 16, 2022 the first verified activity by resistance groups in Kabul was documented after footage was shared online by the ‘Afghan Freedom Front’, whose activity has also been recently verified in Baghlan province. The group claimed an ambush on a Taliban checkpoint, which AW investigators were able to geolocate to Haji Nabi town, police district 6, south-west Kabul.
The second location with verified resistance activity was identified as the area between Karte Naow and Ahmad Shah Baba Meena, on the east side of Kabul, along the Kabul-Jalalabad highway in police districts 8 and 22.
Footage shared on June 18 of an explosion allegedly caused by the ‘National Liberation Front for Afghanistan’ was geolocated by AW investigators to Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan Township, just south of Botkhak Square, in police district 22.
Footage shared on June 20 via a journalist on Facebook, which appears to show an ambush of a Taliban-operated vehicle, was geolocated by AW investigators to a narrow street just off the main Kabul-Jalalabad highway in Karte Naow, police district 8. The Taliban has not commented and no further details about the attack are known.
In recent weeks, AW has also been monitoring the ongoing clashes between Taliban and resistance forces in Afghanistan’s northern provinces, with verified activity in Panjshir and Baghlan.