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Taliban Fighters Again Enter Northern Afghan City of Kunduz Emboldened Taliban Overrun Parts of Kunduz and Taunt Afghan Forces
(about 4 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents on Monday once again entered a central part of the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, an important provincial capital that they briefly overran last year and have kept besieged since. KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban overran central neighborhoods in the critical Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz on Monday, planting their flag in the city’s main roundabout and shaking the Afghan government in a repeat of the insurgents’ assault on the city a year ago.
The coordinated attack on Kunduz, coming from four directions, began before dawn on Monday, according to Mahfozullah Akbari, a spokesman for the regional police zone. Fighting continued in at least three parts of the city as shops remained closed and residents tried to flee. Helicopter gunships were also seen targeting Taliban areas, some less than a mile from the governor’s compound. Fighting in the city continued in the night, and American officials said that aircraft were there to help and that other “assets” were moving in.
The Afghan Interior Ministry and the American-led NATO mission in Afghanistan played down fears that the city was on the verge of falling again. On social media, the insurgents bragged about taking government checkpoints near the city’s center. But on social media, the Taliban taunted the struggling Afghan forces and their American allies, providing a blow-by-blow account of their assault even as senior Afghan leaders were traveling to Brussels for an international conference at which they were to present a status report and ask for sustained international funding.
“We are aware of reports of ongoing sporadic fighting in Kunduz and are coordinating closely with our Afghan partners to assist,” said Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland, a spokesman for the international coalition. He said they were not seeing evidence “to support the reports that Kunduz is under significant attack.” “What is point of backing a regime holed up in Kabul, riven with old rivalries & useless as a turd?” read one message on a Twitter account associated with the insurgents.
Civilians were again caught in the line of fire, as residents reported that both the Taliban and Afghan forces used their homes to fire on the other side. Afghan security officials and the American-led NATO mission in Afghanistan had earlier in the day played down fears that the city was on the verge of falling again. Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland, a spokesman for the international coalition, said the military was not seeing evidence “to support the reports that Kunduz is under significant attack.”
Sardar Murady, a resident who lives close to the highway leading to the district of Chardara, said the Taliban were using some civilian homes for fighting. By nightfall, however, it seemed clear that Afghan officials were in panic mode, as insurgents pushed toward important government buildings in the city center. Those included the central Police Headquarters, where American Green Berets fought off waves of Taliban assaults for several days last October before breaking the insurgents’ hold on the city.
Gen. Qasim Jangalbagh, the provincial police chief, acknowledged on Monday that the Taliban had taken parts of Kunduz city. But he said that additional troops had arrived in Kunduz and that a clearance operation would begin as soon as the reinforcements joined him at the Police Headquarters.
“We are watching the situation closely,” General Cleveland, the spokesman for the American-led NATO coalition, said in a later update on the assault. “We already have enablers there, including strike aircrafts in the air, and we are moving additional assets into the area.”
It was clear that Afghan officials were trying to apply lessons from previous assaults, when their forces had quickly surrendered. Sher Mohammad Sharq, the commander of a local police unit in Aliabad district, which is essentially a suburb of the city, said the district’s police leaders had met and all vowed to take stern measures against desertion.
“I told the police chief that if anyone runs away from the fighting, I am going to shoot him first,” Mr. Sharq said.
The coordinated attack, coming from four directions, began before dawn on Monday, according to Mahfozullah Akbari, a spokesman for the regional police. Shops remained closed and residents tried to flee as fighting continued across several parts of the city. Helicopter gunships were also seen targeting Taliban areas, some less than a mile from the governor’s compound.
“Taliban captured the central square of Kunduz city and all other government offices except for the intelligence office, the Police Headquarters and the governor’s office,” said Sayed Assadullah Sadat, a member of the Kunduz provincial council. “If Taliban capture Kunduz city completely, they will gain enough ammunition and equipment for next year to fight with government forces, and they will destroy the lives of the people in Kunduz.”
Civilians were caught in the line of fire, as residents reported that both the Taliban and Afghan forces used their homes to attack the other side.
Sardar Murady, who lives close to the highway leading to the district of Chardara, said the Taliban were using some civilian homes for fighting.
“They told us not to lock the gates to our houses,” he said.“They told us not to lock the gates to our houses,” he said.
Kabir Shabaan, a resident of the Seh Darak area near the city’s southern gate, said Afghan forces asked them to leave their homes, as it was the front line. Kabir Shabaan, of the Seh Darak area near the city’s southern gate, said Afghan forces asked residents to leave their homes, as it was the front line.
“They told us we need to turn this into a trench,” Mr. Shabaan said. “They told us, ‘We need to turn this into a trench,’” Mr. Shabaan said.
Almost exactly a year ago, insurgents briefly overran Kunduz, making it the first urban center to fall to the Taliban since the collapse of their regime in 2001. During the operation to retake the city, American planes mistakenly bombed a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, leaving at least 42 people dead. The assault on Kunduz comes almost exactly a year after the insurgents briefly overran the city in September last year, making it the first urban center to fall to the Taliban since the collapse of their regime in 2001. American Special Forces took charge of the operation to retake the city, and in the process an American warplane mistakenly bombed a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, killing at least 42 people.
In a sign of violence intensifying across the country, fighting also raged in the southern province of Helmand, where insurgents overran the district of Nawa, just south of the provincial capital, and killed the district’s police chief in an overnight attack. The insurgents’ seemingly easy re-entry to Kunduz city, even if it is eventually repelled, is raising tough questions about the ability of the Afghan forces to protect areas clearly under Taliban focus. Even after insurgents left Kunduz city last year, they maintained a hold on areas all around the provincial capital, and local officials repeatedly warned that the city could fall again.
Since the NATO coalition drew down to an advisory contingent of about 10,000 troops, Afghan forces have struggled to contain the Taliban, losing territory to the insurgency over the past year and suffering record casualties. It has also tested how far the United States-led international coalition will go in supporting Afghan forces and preventing the fall of urban centers — a resolve that is complicated after the disastrous bombing of the Kunduz hospital.
In Helmand, officials said the capital, Lashkar Gah, also remained largely surrounded, and the fall of Nawa had only added pressure from an additional direction. Though Taliban have gained territory in large areas of the country, Afghan and Western officials have said they are concentrating forces to defend strategic population centers. Yet the insurgents repeatedly test them in Kunduz and southern Helmand Province, two areas where both Afghan and NATO have focused their resources.
On Monday, fighting also raged in Helmand, where insurgents overran the district of Nawa, just south of the provincial capital, and killed the district’s police chief in an overnight attack. The district’s fall on Sunday night added pressure from an additional direction on the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, which has long remained surrounded by the Taliban.
Abdul Karim Attal, the leader of the provincial council, said fighting was continuing in six areas around the city.Abdul Karim Attal, the leader of the provincial council, said fighting was continuing in six areas around the city.
“Lashkar Gah is surrounded from all four sides, and Taliban are staging attacks from all four sides,” he said. “I urge the central government to halt the rapid progress of the Taliban — if the reinforcements do not arrive in days to Helmand, we will be experiencing the fate of Kunduz soon.” “I urge the central government to halt the rapid progress of the Taliban — if the reinforcements do not arrive in days to Helmand, we will be experiencing the fate of Kunduz soon,” he said.
Nawa, which fell to the Taliban on Sunday night, was under constant fire for four days, said its governor, Aqa Muhammad Takra. He said that he lacked enough forces and ammunition and that the government had not properly planned the defense of the district after it barely survived an onslaught by the Taliban in August. In many ways, Nawa’s fall mirrored that of Kunduz city. Its complete collapse to the Taliban in August was barely prevented by a delegation of senior generals dispatched from Kabul to shuttle back and forth to monitor developments. Once the Taliban were pushed back — after destroying security towers and leaving government buildings badly damaged — the generals hopped on helicopters to help the neighboring district of Garmsir, giving the appearance of an episodic, helter-skelter defense.
The district fell again because the defenses had not been planned properly after the previous assault, said its governor, Aqa Muhammad Takra.
“The government helped break the previous siege but did not hold the area permanently by installing check posts on the main road and putting more forces in the district,” Mr. Takra said. “It became the focus of the Taliban again, and we haven’t seen any reinforcement to protect the district from falling.”“The government helped break the previous siege but did not hold the area permanently by installing check posts on the main road and putting more forces in the district,” Mr. Takra said. “It became the focus of the Taliban again, and we haven’t seen any reinforcement to protect the district from falling.”
In a sign of the disarray in the Afghan defense ranks, repelling the onslaught in August required a delegation of senior generals and officials sent from Kabul to shuttle back and forth to monitor developments. Once the Taliban were pushed back — after leaving government buildings badly damaged and blowing away security towers — the generals and officials were taken by helicopter to help the neighboring district of Garmsir.
Nawa’s police chief, Col. Ahmad Shah Salem, who was central to the district’s defense during the assault in August, was killed in the attack on Sunday night, said his brother Abdul Wadud, a member of Parliament.Nawa’s police chief, Col. Ahmad Shah Salem, who was central to the district’s defense during the assault in August, was killed in the attack on Sunday night, said his brother Abdul Wadud, a member of Parliament.
Those who remained of the roughly 150 police officers and 50 soldiers in Nawa were stranded near a river, Mr. Wadud said, and the government was struggling to rescue them.Those who remained of the roughly 150 police officers and 50 soldiers in Nawa were stranded near a river, Mr. Wadud said, and the government was struggling to rescue them.
The death of Colonel Salem was the latest blow to an Afghan security force that has had record casualties this year. While the government does not release death tolls, figures for a couple of months this year suggest an increase in fatalities in the security forces over last year’s total, which was estimated at 6,000. The death of Colonel Salem and the resumed fighting for Kunduz were the latest blows to the Afghan security forces, which have suffered record casualties this year. While the government does not release death tolls, figures for a couple of months this year suggest a significant increase in fatalities in the security forces over last year’s total, which was estimated at 6,000.
In July, 900 Afghan soldiers and police officers were killed, according to the NATO commander in Afghanistan. In August, perhaps the deadliest month so far, President Ashraf Ghani told a group of civil society activists that 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed, according to Khan Zaman Amarkhail, who attended the meeting. In July, 900 Afghan soldiers and police officers were killed, according to the NATO commander in Afghanistan. In August, perhaps the deadliest month so far, President Ashraf Ghani told a group of civil society activists that 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed, according to Khan Zaman Amarkhail and two other civil society activists who attended the meeting.
Nader Nadery, a senior adviser to the president, said that figure included some civilians as well. Nader Nadery, a senior adviser to the Afghan president, said that figure included some civilians as well.
“In August, the Taliban’s mobilization of all resources was unprecedented — and it was beyond their capacity,” Mr. Nadery said. “This is no longer an undeclared war — this is a declared war, and the Taliban had full-fledged support not seen before,” he added, referring to the long-held belief on the part of Afghan and Western officials that the military in neighboring Pakistan is aiding the Afghan insurgents.“In August, the Taliban’s mobilization of all resources was unprecedented — and it was beyond their capacity,” Mr. Nadery said. “This is no longer an undeclared war — this is a declared war, and the Taliban had full-fledged support not seen before,” he added, referring to the long-held belief on the part of Afghan and Western officials that the military in neighboring Pakistan is aiding the Afghan insurgents.