Lt Gen Sami Sadat of the former Afghan National Army (ANA) has recently launched an organised resistance against the Taliban rule from the Afghanistan United Front (AUF) platform, announcing armed uprising by former soldiers of ANA and others, to overthrow the recalcitrant IEA regime and 'reclaim' Afghanistan. In his August 2026 address from an undisclosed location, Sadat, wearing ANA uniform, with the tricolour former flag of Afghan Republic in the background, officially launched 'Operation Muharib', declaring end of dialogue and attempted negotiations with the IEA. He announced phased resistance, claiming active combat operations first along Kandahar-Spin Boldak highway (IEA's political hub), while simultaneously targeting the Taliban in the northeast. Reassuring Afghanistan's neighbours, he sought material assistance without asking for manpower help, to fight IEA, TTP, IS-K, Al-Qaeda, et al.

In a related development, in northeastern Badakhshan province, on July 28, 2026, Zabihullah Amri, heading the local Dept of Information and Culture, was assassinated. Amri was well connected and reportedly the nephew of Amanuddin Mansour, IEA's governor of Helmand. The IS-K claimed responsibility. And on July 17, a newer group, Sipahiyan-e-Mihan (Soldiers of Homeland Front), led by Qayum Malang, a former ANA officer, briefly seized Yaftal-e-Payeen District in Badakhshan. Two more groups, the National Resistance Front (NRF) and the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), have also claimed attacks in the province.

Presently, the NRF headed by Ahmad Massoud (son of the slain anti-Soviet resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud) is operating from political headquarters in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The group has diplomatic presence in European capitals, called the Vienna Process. Operationally,........

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