Discontent, ethnic divisions and armed conflict; Badakhshan on the verge of an internal Taliban explosion
The intra-Taliban conflict and disobedience in Badakhshan province has entered a new phase. Salahuddin Salar, a young Taliban commander of Tajik descent, has protested against the Taliban governor in Badakhshan with a group of local commanders and has garnered the support of more than a thousand local fighters.
This tension has escalated while Salar, as the deputy intelligence officer of the Taliban Ministry of Defense, has held consultative meetings with the governor and openly complains about the corruption, monopoly and injustice of the ruling structure.
Other commanders have joined him, exposing deep ethnic divisions within the Taliban.
At the same time, armed clashes in the districts of Jurm and Shuhada have caused casualties on both sides; tensions have been compounded by resistance from local residents and farmers against the Taliban.
The growing discontent among the Taliban’s Tajik commanders is a sign of the group’s internal legitimacy crisis; a group that is now unable to maintain control not only over the public but also over its own members.
