RASC News Agency: A violent confrontation between two Taliban commanders in Yamgan district, Badakhshan province, has resulted in two fatalities and at least seven injuries, local sources confirm. According to reports, the gunfight erupted on a volleyball court following a dispute over prayer time. The deadly altercation, which took place on Wednesday, February 12, near Gharami Bazaar in central Yamgan, sent shockwaves through the local population, causing panic and chaos. Eyewitnesses report that as the situation escalated, Taliban fighters indiscriminately opened fire on spectators, exacerbating the fear and disorder.
Among the deceased was Mawlawi Waliullah Abu Bakr, a Taliban military commander in Yamgan, along with another Taliban fighter. Sources indicate that the injured were airlifted to Fayzabad, the provincial capital, on Wednesday afternoon. A Taliban insider in Badakhshan confirmed the incident, acknowledging that the clash has intensified internal divisions within the group. The confrontation reportedly began when Waliullah Abu Bakr and his men were engaged in a volleyball match, only to be interrupted by fighters loyal to Mawlawi Mahbub, who demanded they halt the game for prayer. Tensions escalated when Mahbub’s men shot and deflated the volleyball, triggering an armed conflict between the two factions.
The battle unfolded just meters away from a Taliban military base in Yamgan, which Abu Bakr commanded. While Abu Bakr was a native of Yamgan, the opposing faction hailed from Khastak, a region in Jurm district. Following the skirmish, Taliban fighters reportedly assaulted and harassed local civilians, further inflaming tensions in the area. Sources suggest that the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice played a direct role in instigating the clash, as its agents attempted to enforce a prayer-time ban on volleyball, ultimately escalating the dispute into a deadly standoff.
