Taliban's Struggle to Centralize Power in Badakhshan Highlights Fragile Control
The article analyzes a recent crisis in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province, where the Taliban's centralization efforts nearly sparked armed conflict. In early July 2026, a powerful local commander, Juma Khan Fateh, was detained by the Taliban and released only after pledging loyalty. The province, rich in minerals and bordering China, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, has become a flashpoint due to Taliban expansion of mining operations, displacement of poppy farmers, and growing Chinese presence. The dispute pits Fateh against Haji Bashir Noorzai, the Taliban's economic strategist, over lucrative mines. The article argues that mining is a catalyst, not the cause, of tensions rooted in the Taliban's attempt to replace entrenched local power structures that filled the vacuum left by the weak former republic. Five years after taking power, the Taliban still struggles to turn conquest into centralized control.
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