After being expelled as the head of intelligence, Mahdi Mujahid left the Taliban and then declared war on them. Mahdi Mujahid quickly captured Balkhab district, removed the Taliban district governor and replaced him with a Shia Hazara from within his forces. After capturing Balkhab, Mahdi Mujahid said that no one could take the district from the Hazaras by force. The Taliban initially gathered an estimated 500 fighters and planned to capture Mahdi from two directions, one coming from
Dara-i Sufi Bala District in
Samangan Province and one coming from
Yakawlang District in
Bamyan Province. The Taliban had also asked its members from the ethnic
Uzbek community in
Jowzjan and
Faryab provinces led by
Qari Salahuddin Ayubi to provide at least 200 fighters to help capture Mahdi, but they refused. , the entire Balkhab District was controlled by Mahdi Mujahid's forces. Many people including ordinary civilians,
IRA Armed Forces veterans, and
Liwa Fatemiyoun fighters joined under Mahdi's command. Sources state ISIS-K was being used in Balkhab, they were deployed in Kotal Regi of the Balkhab district and carried out an attack from the district. On 23 June 2022, the Taliban attempted to take Balkhab, although they failed to even enter it due to the heavy resistance. In an official Tweet, Sebghat Ahmadi, an
NRF spokesman, said that "today at 7 am, the Taliban tried attacking the brave and justice-seeking people of Balkhab from the Qom Kotal Sancharak route". According to locals, the Taliban sent troops to Balkhab from various directions to capture Mahdi Mujahid and defeat his forces. Mahdi Mujahid stated that his forces repelled two attacks by the Taliban on 23 June and one attack on the morning of 24 June and that they had killed a significant amount of Taliban fighters.
Muhammad Mohaqiq, a Hazara politician, supported Mahdi and warned the Taliban that an attack on Mahdi Mujahid "would mean a war with the Hazaras". The two sides engaged in battles in the Dezdan Valley, Dozdan Dara, Qom Kotal and Ab-e Kalan areas, and dozens of deaths and injuries were reported, with the Taliban having more losses. A source close to Mahdi Mujahid claimed that Taliban forces had withdrawn from several fronts after being overpowered by Mahdi's forces. The Taliban fighters also committed atrocities against the civilians in Balkhab. On 6 July, the Taliban deployed almost 8,000 fighters and surrounded all of Balkhab district and banned anyone from leaving or entering. The Taliban also cut off all internet in Balkhab. Mahdi Mujahid urged his fighters to not lose hope and to fight hard against the Taliban.
Karim Khalili, another Hazara politician and leader of
Hezbe Wahdat, criticized the Taliban for their treatment of the Balkhab civilians. He wrote that "In this war, there are clear signs of crimes against humanity; Civilians have been directly and intentionally attacked, people's houses and properties have been looted. In addition, the communication and networks of the region have been cut off and the transportation routes to provide food for the people have been cut off completely." == War crimes and human rights abuses ==