The Afghanistan Republic Front says its forces targeted and set fire to several trucks carrying coal on the route between Balkhab district in Sar-e Pol province and Dara-e-Suf in Samangan province on Sunday, 30 August 2026.
The group claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said took place in the Rah-Gardu Pass area.
According to the Republic Front, the targeted vehicles were transporting coal from mining areas.
In its statement, the group described Afghanistan’s natural resources as “national wealth” belonging to the country’s citizens and accused the Taliban authorities of extensively extracting and transporting natural resources from mining regions.
The Republic Front said the operation was intended to oppose what it described as the “illegal extraction and transfer” and “plundering” of Afghanistan’s natural resources.
These descriptions represent the Republic Front’s own claims and have not been independently established as a legal justification for the attack.
A local source also confirmed that coal-carrying trucks had been set on fire along the route. However, independent details concerning the circumstances of the attack, the exact number and ownership of the vehicles involved, and any possible casualties were not immediately clear.
The Taliban authorities had not publicly responded to initial reports of the incident at the time the reports were published.
The attack comes amid increased attention to coal extraction and transportation from Balkhab in recent years, alongside continuing questions about the management of the district’s mines, the use of mining revenues and the share of natural-resource wealth that reaches local communities.
The incident adds a new dimension to that debate.
What has largely been an economic and social discussion over the extraction, transportation and use of Balkhab’s natural resources has now also entered the sphere of armed conflict.
