At least one member of the Taliban`s Border Battalion was killed on Monday in an armed confrontation between two rival Taliban commanders in Shahr-e Bozorg District of Badakhshan Province, northern Afghanistan.

According to AnsarPress, local sources report that the clash erupted over control of a lucrative gold mine in the Payan-Mor area, one of the richest mineral zones in the province.

Sources identified the two rivals as Abdul Rahman Ammar, the former head of Badakhshan`s Department of Mines, and Shafiqullah Hafizi, the current provincial director of mines, both of whom claim ownership and oversight authority over the same gold site. Monday`s confrontation marked the second armed clash between their loyalists within three days.

According to informed local officials, fighters from the Taliban`s Border Battalion, a military unit under the Taliban`s Ministry of Defense, intervened in support of Hafizi, while Ammar-though holding no official post within the Taliban administration-remains a powerful local commander with access to his own armed network and heavy weaponry in the region.

As the conflict intensified, Taliban authorities dispatched reinforcements from the provincial capital, Faizabad, to Shahr-e Bozorg on Monday to prevent further escalation. However, no official statement has yet been issued by Taliban officials regarding the incident.

The Shahr-e Bozorg District is considered one of Afghanistan`s wealthiest areas in terms of mineral deposits, particularly gold. Control over such mines has in recent years served as a major, opaque source of income for Taliban factions.

Analysts say the latest infighting in Badakhshan is not merely a local power struggle, but rather a reflection of the Taliban`s deeper structural crisis after four years in power. Despite the group`s claim of running a "centralized Islamic government," the Taliban continues to struggle with internal fragmentation, as regional commanders and semi-autonomous military units pursue personal economic interests-especially through mining revenues-as instruments of power and influence.

The confrontation underscores growing tensions between political authority and local militancy within the Taliban ranks, revealing how competition over natural resources has become a fault line in the group`s internal hierarchy and a potential flashpoint for wider instability in northern Afghanistan.

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