After he gathered his own fighters and quickly took control of his native Balkhab district, the Taliban deployed troops and widely outnumbered Mehdi and his militants.

[17] 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 Mehdi, but they refused.

[19] Many people including ordinary civilians, IRA Armed Forces veterans, and Liwa Fatemiyoun fighters joined under Mehdi's command.

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".

[3][22] 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.

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.

Several war crimes were reportedly committed by the Taliban against the mostly Hazara population throughout the campaign, causing refugees to flee to the neighboring provinces.

[29] In the rural areas around Balkhab district, the Taliban committed a series of war crimes against the Shia Hazara population during the conflict.