How NRF commander Hasib Panjshiri was killed

Informed sources have provided Amu with new details about how Hasib Panjshiri, a National Resistance Front commander, was killed.

According to the sources, Panjshiri was traveling with seven other NRF members in two Toyota Hilux vehicles from Panjshir toward Andarab in Baghlan province. Four people were traveling in each vehicle, and the group was heading to Andarab for a planned operation.

The sources said NRF members had checked the route before departing and information available to them indicated that it was safe. Taliban forces, however, learned of their plans and movements and set up an ambush in northern Salang, according to the sources.

Heavy fighting broke out during the ambush. The four NRF members traveling in the first vehicle were killed, the sources said.

Panjshiri, who was traveling in the second vehicle with three others, was also killed in the fighting. The fate of his three companions remains unclear.

The sources provided no information about possible casualties among Taliban forces, and it remains unclear whether they suffered any losses in the clash.

The NRF confirmed Panjshiri’s death Thursday. Ali Maisam Nazary, the NRF’s head of foreign relations, announced his death on Facebook but did not provide details about when, where or how he was killed.

Earlier, Al-Mersaad, a media outlet close to Taliban intelligence, reported that Panjshiri had been killed in an operation by Taliban special forces.

Panjshiri, also known as Hasib Qowaye Markaz, was a military commander with the NRF led by Ahmad Massoud. Before the collapse of the former government in August 2021, he served in special units of Afghanistan’s former National Directorate of Security.

After the Taliban returned to power, Panjshiri joined the armed resistance against their rule.

In May 2025, images emerged showing Panjshiri and Khalid Amiri, another NRF commander, wearing military uniforms and carrying weapons in a mountainous area. NRF officials said at the time that the images showed their commanders remained active inside Afghanistan. Moreover, Panjshiri had posted many videos of him and NRF members in Panjshir and Hindukush mountains.

Panjshiri also appeared in a video around that time saying he was inside Afghanistan and would continue fighting the Taliban.

The NRF emerged under Massoud’s leadership following the collapse of the former government in August 2021. Its armed resistance was initially concentrated in Panjshir, but the front has since claimed attacks against Taliban forces in Panjshir and several other provinces.

The Taliban have repeatedly disputed presence of armed opposition fronts and their attacks and maintain that security has been established across Afghanistan.