While Afghanistan continues to languish under the shadow of the oppressive Taliban regime, reports received by Ansar News Agency from the Jarm district of Badakhshan province indicate that intense clashes between the Taliban and local farmers have entered their second day, raising fears of escalating into a bloodier crisis.
Local sources, citing residents of Farghamanch village, state that Taliban forces, under the pretext of destroying poppy fields, launched a violent assault on the area, not only endangering the safety of locals but also sparking a wave of public outrage and protests.
According to sources, farm owners, with the tacit support of some local Taliban members, have taken refuge in the mountains and are now confronting forces deployed by the Taliban’s special unit. The sound of aerial gunfire echoes in the region, a clear sign that a local dispute is turning into an internal military confrontation.
Tensions escalated when angry residents marched toward the Taliban governor’s office in Faizabad, carrying the body of one of the deceased in a protest. The humanitarian crisis was temporarily contained when Fasiuddin Fitrat, the Taliban’s army chief of staff, intervened as a mediator and persuaded the people to bury the body. However, the anger remains unquelled.
Meanwhile, serious allegations have been raised by former members of the Badakhshan Provincial Council against the Taliban, pointing to a clear double standard in their so-called anti-narcotics policies. According to these reports, while the Taliban violently destroy poppy fields in Badakhshan, the cultivation of this lucrative crop continues unhindered in other provinces—a contradiction that can only stem from an irrational and corrupt system.
Badakhshan, which witnessed bloody clashes between the Taliban and farmers last year, has once again become the stage for old wounds that the Taliban regime has not only failed to heal but has deepened through force, bloodshed, and suppression.
Quoting AnsarPress, Badakhshan farmers say that in the face of widespread poverty, unemployment, and utter neglect of people’s livelihoods, poppy cultivation is not a choice but an economic necessity. Yet, instead of providing a reasonable alternative for this crisis-ridden livelihood, the Taliban confronts farmers with batons and guns.
The clashes in Farghamanch are not merely a local conflict; they are a mirror reflecting the state of Afghanistan under Taliban rule—a regime that, in the name of religion, law, and justice, sows only destruction.
