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Taliban Fighters in Afghanistan Come Close to Taking Kunduz Taliban Fighters Seize Parts of Kunduz City for First Time
(about 2 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban were close to overrunning a major Afghan city for the first time in years on Monday, as their fighters took control of several government buildings in Kunduz, an important provincial capital in the north, and raised their flag in at least one neighborhood, officials and residents said. KABUL, Afghanistan — After months of besieging the northern Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz, Taliban fighters for the first time seized control of significant parts of the city on Monday, officials said, sending government security forces retreating toward the airport.
The offensive was the second time this year that the insurgents have made a run for Kunduz in an effort to carve out more territory in the north and take a major city, which would be a huge blow to the struggling government of President Ashraf Ghani. The Afghan security forces, largely on their own this year, have been stretched thin across the country as they try to fend off Taliban assaults in several provinces. The Taliban advance, coming suddenly after what had appeared to be a stalemate through the summer, put the insurgents within close reach of a military and political prize — the capture of a major Afghan city — that has eluded them since 2001. And it presented the government of President Ashraf Ghani, which has been alarmed about insurgent advances in the surrounding province for a year, with a demoralizing setback less than a year after the formal end of the NATO combat mission in Afghanistan.
Offices, schools and most of the roads out of Kunduz remained closed on Monday, with the Taliban setting up checkpoints on some roads. On Twitter, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, urged Kunduz residents to stay in their homes until the fighting was over. Still, families were seen fleeing the city via a thoroughfare that bypasses the airport, which remained open. Security officials and local residents said that by Monday evening, Taliban fighters had taken control of several government buildings, including the governor’s office and police headquarters, though some other officials contested that claim.
By early afternoon, the militants had taken control of several government buildings, including the compound of the provincial council, and the Departments of Agricultural and Rural Development, according to Amruddin Wali, the deputy head of the provincial council. Small groups of Taliban fighters could be seen in the west of the city walking around freely and interacting with residents. Some soldiers who had fallen back to the airport on the outskirts of Kunduz reported that by nightfall, the Taliban effectively had the run of the provincial capital, with no security forces remaining within the city proper. They said the insurgents had set fire to police facilities and were looting jewelry shops.
As government reinforcements were rushed to the city, some of the heaviest fighting was focused around the central prison, where roughly 500 inmates were being held, including Taliban prisoners. Most of the senior Taliban prisoners, however, had been relocated to Kabul, the national capital, officials said. Those accounts could not be officially confirmed, though some officials conceded that at least parts of the city had fallen.
Col. Abdul Qahar, a spokesman for the Afghan Army in the north, said that commando units and regular units had been sent to Kunduz and that air support was being prepared in Kabul. “It is a reality that they have control of some parts of Kunduz city,” said Col. Abdul Qahar, a spokesman for the main Army corps in northern Afghanistan.
Sher Mohamed Sharqi, the commander of a 150-member pro-government militia in the suburbs of Kunduz, said that his men had rushed to the city the previous night to help the police, but that the Taliban had 10 of them surrounded. Although reinforcements were said by some officials to be making their way toward the city, both by air and by road, including several commando units, a counterattack did not seem imminent by nightfall. One major militia commander who had helped lead the city’s defense, Mir Alam, said he was retreating to his stronghold north of the city.
“If we don’t get reinforcement tonight, the Taliban will take over control of the city,” Mr. Sharqi said. The Taliban’s advance over the course of Monday raises troubling questions about the ability of the Afghan security forces to fend off a concerted Taliban push. For much of the year, some Afghan and Western officials have sought to describe the Taliban’s gains as marginal and largely confined to rural areas, far from population centers.
The assault on Kunduz began soon after dawn, as militants attacked from three directions, said Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for the Kunduz police. By the time residents woke, the Taliban had raised their flag in the neighborhood of Zakhel and had reached the central hospital in the neighborhood of Seh Darak. Kunduz, however, is a city of just over 300,000, according to one Afghan government population estimate from 2013, although there has been a large outflow of refugees this past year and the population is most likely lower now. The city, not far from the border with Tajikistan, has been encircled for much of the year, and there appears to have been little effort by the NATO-trained Afghan security forces to dislodge insurgents from the city’s outskirts over the past six months.
A doctor in the hospital said that after searching room to room for wounded members of the Afghan security forces, the insurgents posed for photographs, apparently as proof that they had been there, and left. Mohammad Yousuf Ayoubi, the head of the Kunduz provincial council, said that no major government offensive or reinforcement of the city had been taken up recently, even though it was clear the Taliban had been amassing at the city’s gates for months. He said 70 percent of the province outside of the city also remained under Taliban control.
Abdullah Khan, a resident of Zakhel who works as a mechanic, said the militants had faced little resistance there.
“It was around 7 a.m. when six or seven Taliban fighters raised their flag in the main roundabout and people started fleeing,” Mr. Khan said.
Kunduz Province has been volatile in recent years, and much of it is under Taliban control. In April, the militants mounted a fierce offensive on the provincial capital, taking a number of suburbs but failing to enter the city itself. To push back that assault, the central government resorted to the use of pro-government militias, a controversial move because of their history of abusing local residents.
As the Taliban made their second run, it remained unclear whether the ease with which they had been able to capture parts of the city was due to their strength or the government’s failure to learn from the previous assault. Mohammad Yousuf Ayoubi, the head of the Kunduz provincial council, said no permanent measures had been taken since the last attack to protect Kunduz, even though it was clear the Taliban had been amassing at the gates for months. He said 70 percent of the province was under Taliban control.
“The central government is neglecting Kunduz and its people,” Mr. Ayoubi said. “The local officials are incompetent, which is a major reason for the presence of the Taliban.”“The central government is neglecting Kunduz and its people,” Mr. Ayoubi said. “The local officials are incompetent, which is a major reason for the presence of the Taliban.”
Mr. Alam, the militia commander, who is believed to have thousands of men in his network, said that the government had called on neighboring provinces to each send 350 men as reinforcements, but few appear to have done so.
“Those provinces had their own security problems,” Mr. Alam said by phone. “How could they send their reserved units to Kunduz? I don’t see any reinforcement coming to retake Kunduz city back.”
The American military, which continues to fly warplanes and drones over Afghanistan, did not drop any ordinance near Kunduz on Monday, a spokeswoman for the military coalition here said. It remained to be seen what, if any, assistance American military officials would provide.
The fighting began at dawn on Monday, with bands of Taliban fighters advancing from three directions, said Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for the Kunduz police. In some places, they fought with police forces, but in other neighborhoods their advance was mostly unopposed.
By early morning the Taliban had already raised their white flag in parts of the city and had reached the central hospital in the Seh Darak neighborhood.
A doctor in the hospital said by telephone that after searching room to room for wounded members of the Afghan security forces, the insurgents posed for photos, apparently as proof that they had been there, and left.
Abdullah Khan, who works as a mechanic, said the militants had faced little resistance in his neighborhood.
“It was around 7 a.m. when six or seven Taliban fighters raised their flag in the main roundabout and people started fleeing,” Mr. Khan said.
Throughout the day, pictures circulated on social media of gunmen standing in the street carrying white flags. Using mosque loudspeakers, Taliban fighters claimed they would capture the city, one security official briefed on the events in Kunduz said.
On Twitter, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, urged Kunduz residents to stay in their homes until the fighting was over. Small groups of Taliban fighters could be seen in the west of the city walking around freely and interacting with residents, one resident said by phone.
While most highways were blocked by Taliban checkpoints, some families were fleeing the city by a side road that appeared to be open.
By afternoon, some of the heaviest fighting was focused around the central prison, where roughly 500 inmates were being held, including Taliban prisoners. Most of the senior Taliban prisoners, however, had been relocated to Kabul, the national capital, officials said.