Soldiers of Homeland - Afghan Biographies - Who is who in Afghanistan?

Soldiers of Homeland aka Sipahiyan-e Mihan, Sepahiyan-e Maihan or Homeland Soldiers Front (HSF).

The group announced itself through an operation against the Taliban in Yaftal-e Payin (Yaftal-e Sufla) District, near Faizabad, the provincial capital of Badakhshan. On July 17–18, 2026, its fighters briefly seized the district's administrative center and reportedly disarmed Taliban personnel before withdrawing.

The event was significant because it demonstrated that a newly identified armed opposition group could temporarily take control of a district center. However, a short-lived seizure is not evidence that the group can hold territory against sustained Taliban reinforcements.

Abdul Qayum Malang aka Qayum Khan is the principal commander publicly associated with the Homeland Soldiers Front. Reports identify him as a native of Yaftal-e Payin in Badakhshan and a former commando of the Afghan Republic-era security forces.

Available reporting says Malang previously served with a National Resistance Front (NRF) unit associated with Khalid Amiri. He reportedly later separated from the NRF and worked to establish his own armed group.

These details are based substantially on media accounts and people claiming personal knowledge of Malang. They are not all independently verified.

The Soldiers of the Homeland Front is a newly visible, locally significant anti-Taliban armed group in Badakhshan, associated publicly with Abdul Qayum Malang. Its brief seizure of a district center in July 2026 was a notable tactical and political event.

However, its total strength, weapons inventory, organizational structure and external support remain uncertain. On the evidence currently available, it is a serious local insurgency concern for the Taliban, but not yet a strategic military threat to Taliban control of Badakhshan or Afghanistan.