Taliban fighters battled their way into the centre of Kunduz city in
northern Afghanistan on Monday and seized the provincial governor's
office, in one of the militants' biggest territorial gains in 14 years
of war, witnesses and officials said.
The insurgents raised the
white Taliban banner over the central square and freed hundreds of
fellow militants from the local jail, in a major setback for Afghan
forces who abandoned a provincial headquarters for the first time since
2001.
The stunning assault came a day before President Ashraf
Ghani's unity government marked its first anniversary, and will further
complicate efforts to resume stalled peace negotiations.
It was
the second time this year that the hardline Islamist movement has
besieged Kunduz city, defended by Afghan forces battling largely without
Nato's support after it withdrew most of its troops last year.
The
insurgents launched a surprise, three-pronged offensive before dawn,
and by evening they had captured the governor's compound and provincial
police headquarters, said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the
hardline Islamist movement.
"Our fighters are now advancing towards the airport," Mujahid said on his Twitter account.
Ministry
of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi later confirmed that "most of
Kunduz city has fallen to the Taliban", and said Afghan forces were
regrouping at the airport.
Pretty grim
The
Kunduz assault marks a troubling development in the insurgency,
although Afghan forces have managed to drive the Taliban back from most
of the territory they have gained this year during an escalation in
violence.
"It is certainly the first major breach of a provincial
capital since 2001," said Graeme Smith, senior analyst for International
Crisis Group.
"They are choking the Afghan forces from all sides. It looks pretty grim."
The
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan evacuated its Kunduz
compound on Monday morning, soon after the assault began.
"They've
been relocated within Afghanistan," said UN spokesperson Dominic
Medley, declining to say where or how many staff were evacuated.
Afghanistan's
deputy chief of army staff, Murad Ali Murad, defended the Afghan
security forces' performance, suggesting they withdrew to avoid harming
civilians with all-out urban warfare.
"There were enough troops
inside Kunduz city, but the insurgents used some route deemed not that
sensitive," Murad told a news briefing late on Monday.
"Our forces arrived there on time, but we had to take extra care not to cause civilian casualties."
Dozens
of Afghan special forces were flown to Kunduz airport on a C-130
aircraft and were preparing to launch a counter-attack, according to a
senior official in Kabul.
Abdullah Danishy, deputy governor of Kunduz, vowed that Afghan forces would retake the occupied city.
"We
have reinforcements coming from other areas and will beat back the
Taliban," Danishy said by telephone from Kunduz airport after fleeing
his office.
But with most of downtown Kunduz now in Taliban hands
and terrified civilians either trying to flee or hiding inside their
homes, the insurgents may be tough to dislodge.
"Once they get inside an urban area, your air assets and artillery become much less useful," Smith said.
Sporadic clashes
The
Taliban were ousted in 2001 after a US-led campaign, and have been
fighting to reimpose their rule in sporadic clashes ever since. They
have stepped up their offensive this year as Nato forces drew down to
just a few thousand troops.
One Reuters witness saw buildings on
fire in the south of the city and Taliban fighters entering a 200-bed
government-run hospital.
Dozens of panicked residents fled to the city's main airport but were turned away by security forces.
Electricity
and phone services were cut across most of the city, and family members
struggled to locate one another in the chaos.
"My uncle's wife
has been killed by the Taliban today and still my wife and kids are in
the area that the Taliban captured, so it is important to free my
family," said Matin Safraz, an official at the interior ministry who was
visiting Kunduz for the Muslim holiday of Eid.
Safraz had retreated to the airport, and said he was prepared to fight the Taliban with a borrowed AK-47 rifle.
Taliban fighters
Sayed
Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesperson for Kunduz police, said 20 Taliban
fighters had been killed and three Afghan police wounded in the early
morning clashes. Updated casualty figures were not immediately
available.
According to two security officials, Taliban gunmen,
some armed with rocket-propelled grenades, overwhelmed security guards
and broke into the main city prison, freeing hundreds of fighters.
Taliban spokesperson Mujahid urged Kunduz residents to stay inside.
"The
mujahideen are trying to avoid any harm to Kunduz residents," he said
on his official Twitter account, referring to Taliban fighters.
The
once-quiet north of Afghanistan has seen escalating violence. Kunduz
city was the centre of fierce fighting earlier this year as the Taliban
sought to gain territory after the end of Nato's combat mission at the
end of 2014.
A scaled-down Nato presence now mostly trains and
advises Afghan forces, although US drones still target militant leaders
and a US counter-terrorist force also operates in the country.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Afghan Taliban seize Kunduz city centre
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