Republican insurgency in Afghanistan
| Republican insurgency in Afghanistan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Afghan conflict | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
Independent militias and Taliban dissidents | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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| Units involved | |||||||||
Various pro-Taliban militias Pakistan Armed Forces (until 2024; unconfirmed, rejected by Pakistan)
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Various non-NRF militias
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 168,000 soldiers and 210,121 police forces and pro-Taliban militia (2024 self-claim) |
2,000–10,000 (Panjshir resistance; estimates)
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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NRF claim: 950+ killed, 1,500+ captured (2021) |
Heavy casualties IEA claims: Large number of POWs, vehicles and weapons also captured | ||||||||
Guerrilla groups including the National Resistance Front (NRF) and the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), which fight under the banner of the defunct Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, are conducting an ongoing low-level insurgency against the government of Afghanistan led by the Taliban.
In the immediate aftermath of the fall of Kabul in August 2021, Ahmad Massoud travelled from Kabul to Panjshir where he formed the NRF with remnants of the Afghan National Army. The group initially managed to recapture some districts from the Taliban; however, by mid-September, the Taliban took control of all of Afghanistan and most of the NRF leadership fled to neighboring Tajikistan. Due to these developments, the NRF changed its strategy to guerrilla warfare and a hit-and-run technique. In March 2022, the AFF was founded under the control of Yasin Zia, former chief of general staff of the Afghan National Army. Since then, the AFF and the NRF have collaborated on anti-Taliban operations and maintain a presence in the northern provinces of Afghanistan.