KABUL (Dispatches) -- Armed attacks against Taliban forces more than doubled in October compared with September, with so-called resistance factions carrying out 82 attacks that killed 122 Taliban personnel and wounded 68 others across 22 provinces, according to a report published Tuesday by the U.S.-based Long War Journal.
The Afghanistan United Front, led by former corps commander General Sami Sadat, claimed the highest number of attacks with 36 incidents, most of them in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, according to the report. 
The National Resistance Front, led by Ahmad Massoud, claimed 11 attacks across Badakhshan, Baghlan, Panjshir, Herat, Kandahar and Wardak. 
The Afghanistan Freedom Front, led by former army chief of staff Yasin Zia, claimed 10 attacks across Badakhshan, Parwan, Kabul, Kapisa, Kunar, Logar, Nuristan and Takhar, while the Green Unit, associated with former Vice President Amrullah Saleh, claimed eight across Badakhshan, Panjshir, Bamiyan, Helmand and Herat.
The report said the attacks were spread across nearly a third of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, indicating that resistance activity is not confined to a single region. 
Kandahar is the Taliban’s spiritual heartland and the seat of its supreme leader, while Helmand has long been a centre of insurgent and counter-insurgent activity.
The figures mark a significant escalation in insurgent activity against the Taliban administration, which has faced a growing campaign of armed opposition since seizing power in 2021. 
Most of the factions are composed of former Afghan republic military and security personnel but remain fragmented and do not control territory, according to the EU Agency for Asylum.
The Taliban government has not publicly responded to the Long War Journal’s findings. Taliban officials have previously dismissed reports of resistance activity as exaggerated and have said security forces are capable of maintaining order across the country.
The reported surge in attacks comes amid a broader deterioration in security conditions in parts of Afghanistan, with the terrorist Daesh’s regional affiliate also claiming several high-profile attacks in recent months. 
The Taliban have repeatedly said they are committed to combating all armed groups and have pointed to their own operations against Daesh-K cells.
Casualty figures from conflict zones in Afghanistan are difficult to verify independently, and both sides in the conflict have incentives to inflate or understate losses. Access to many provinces is restricted, and the Taliban government does not publish regular security statistics.