The “ghanimat” or spoils of war they’re showing off include a Humvee, two pick-up vans and a number of powerful machine guns. Ainuddin, a stony-faced former madrassa (religious school) student who’s now an area military commander, stands at the centre of a heavily-armed crowd.
The insurgents are capturing new territory on what looks like a day to day as international troops have about withdrawn. Caught within the middle may be a terrified population.
Tens of thousands of ordinary Afghans have had to escape their homes – hundreds are killed or injured in recent weeks.
The displaced people hoping for safety in Kabul
I ask Ainuddin how he can justify the violence, given the pain it’s inflicting on the people he claims to be fighting on behalf of?
“It’s fighting, so people are dying,” he replies coolly, adding that the group is trying its best “not to harm civilians”.
I means that the Taliban are those who have started the fighting.
“No,” he retorts. “We had a government and it had been overthrown. They [the Americans] started the fighting.”
Ainuddin and therefore the remainder of the Taliban feel momentum is with them, which they’re on the cusp of returning to dominance after being toppled by the US-led invasion in 2001.
“They aren’t abandoning Western culture… so we’ve to kill them,” he says of the “puppet government” in Kabul.
Shortly after we finish speaking we hear the sound of helicopters above us. The Humvee and therefore the Taliban fighters quickly disperse. it is a reminder of the continuing threat the Afghan air force poses to the insurgents, which the battle remains faraway from over.
We’re in Balkh, a town with ancient roots, thought to be the birthplace of 1 of Islam’s most famous mystic poets, Jalaluddin Rumi.
One senior Taliban official said the main target within the north had been deliberate – not only because the region has traditionally seen strong anti-Taliban resistance, but also because it’s more diverse.
Despite its core leadership being heavily dominated by members of the Pashtun majority, the official said the Taliban wanted to emphasize they incorporated other ethnicities too.
Haji Hekmat, an area Taliban leader and our host in Balkh, is keen to point out us how lifestyle remains continuing.
Young schoolgirls throng the streets (though elsewhere there are reports of women being banned from attending). The bazaar remains crowded, with both male and feminine shoppers.