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Taliban launches major assault on Afghan city of Kunduz Taliban launches major assault on Afghan city of Kunduz
(about 2 hours later)
Taliban fighters have mounted a four-pronged assault on the northern city of Kunduz, a senior city police official said. Taliban fighters have mounted a coordinated assault on the northern Afghan city of Kunduz overnight, attacking from four directions, entering urban areas and threatening a repeat of the operation in which they seized the city exactly a year ago.
Sheer Ali Kamal, a police commander in Kunduz, said the attack began at around midnight (1930 GMT on Sunday) and fighting was still going on in and around the city. Sheer Ali Kamawal, a police commander in Kunduz, said the attack began at around midnight (1930 GMT Sunday) and fighting was still going on in and around the city. Some Taliban fighters had based themselves in residents’ houses.
“We are putting all our efforts together to push them back,” he said. Military helicopters flew overhead and gunfire could be heard in Kunduz, where Afghan troops – backed by American airstrikes and special forces – were fighting a year ago to the day to drive out insurgents who had raised the Taliban flag in the city centre.
Military helicopters were flying overhead and gunfire could be heard in the city, which was deserted with streets empty and shops closed. Police spokesman Mahfozullah Akbari said security forces were preparing to drive out the fighters, who had set up in the Khak Kani area in the south-west of the city.
Kunduz, which fell briefly to the Taliban a year ago, has seen repeated bouts of heavy fighting as the insurgents have sought to repeat their success of 2015. “The Taliban are inside some civilian houses and we have to carry out operations very carefully,” he said.
Monday’s attack, a day before the start of a major donor conference in Brussels, underlines the precarious security situation in Afghanistan, where government forces are estimated to have control over no more than two thirds of the country. A statement from the interior ministry said reinforcements were being sent to the city.
“A massive operation started on Kunduz capital from four directions early this morning,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in his official Twitter account. The attack, which took place a day before the start of a major donor conference in Brussels, underlines the precarious security situation in Afghanistan, where government forces are only estimated to control two thirds of the country.
He said the Nawabad area with four checkpoints had been captured and a number of soldiers had been killed. It was not immediately possible to verify the claim. “A massive operation started on Kunduz capital from four directions early this morning,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on his Twitter account.
A Reuters reporter saw at least five Taliban fighters armed with AK-47 assault rifles, machines guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the city. He said the Nawabad area with four checkpoints had been captured and a number of soldiers had been killed. It was not immediately possible to verify the claim. A Reuters reporter saw at least five Taliban fighters armed with AK-47 assault rifles, machines guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the city. He saw fighters entering houses and taking up position on rooftops.
The attack came as the Taliban have stepped up operations in different parts of Afghanistan, including the strategic southern province of Helmand, where they have been threatening the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. The Taliban have stepped up operations in different parts of Afghanistan, including the strategic southern province of Helmand, where they have been threatening the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.
The fall of Kunduz last year was one of the most serious blows suffered by the western-backed government in Kabul since the withdrawal of most international troops at the end of 2014. On Monday, Taliban fighters, now positioned just across the Helmand river from the centre of Lashkar Gah, also took control of Nawa district to the south of the city, inflicting casualties and killing the local police chief, officials said.
A US airstrike during the battle to dislodge the jihadists last year hit a hospital operated by aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres, killing 42 people including patients and medical staff. Heavy fighting has also continued along the main highway to Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of Uruzgan in the south, where a Taliban raid on 8 September also sparked fears of another collapse like that in Kunduz last year.
Although the insurgents abandoned the city after a few days, the demonstration that they were able to take a provincial capital underlined their growing strength and exposed serious flaws in Afghan security forces. The fall of the city was one of the most serious blows suffered by the western-backed government in Kabul since the withdrawal of international troops at the end of 2014.
A Taliban raid on Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of Uruzgan in the south, on 8 September also sparked fears of another collapse like that in Kunduz last year. Although the insurgents abandoned the city after a few days, the demonstration that they were able to take a provincial capital underlined their growing strength and exposed serious flaws in Afghanistan’s security forces.
Mujahid said in the Taliban statement that the militants were pressing ahead with their assaults on Helmand and Uruzgan. Afghanistan’s international partners are due to start a two-day conference in Brussels on Tuesday, where they are expected to approve maintaining billions of dollars in funding for the government over the next four years. Its international partners are due to start a two-day conference in Brussels on Tuesday, where they are expected to approve maintaining billions of dollars in funding for the government over the next four years.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.