Afghan forces claim to have retaken city from Taliban

By Zabihullah Tamanna

KABUL, Afghanistan

Afghan officials are claiming that their security forces regained control of Kunduz city from the Taliban on Thursday morning following an overnight counter-attack.

Taliban militants seized the strategic city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan and its outlaying districts after 14 hours of intense fighting on Monday.

According to Special Forces Unit commander, Khalid Amiri, Afghan troops took control of Kunduz after fierce fighting: “Terrorists fought hard to hold [their positions], but our forces broke their lines down,” he said.

The Afghan defense ministry claimed its forces killed 150 militants and wounded 90 others during the operation launched Wednesday night after reinforcements, breaking through roadblocks, reached Kunduz from the neighboring Baghlan province.

Taliban sources denied the claim and said their militants retained control of the city.

“Mujahidin still have control in Kunduz city. Enemies were defeated and Taliban were resisting government soldiers,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the group, said.

Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Afghan ministry of the interior, said on his Twitter account that Afghan special forces had taken control of city and that a “clearing operation is underway”.

Independent sources from Kunduz have also confirmed that Afghan forces entered the city early Thursday morning.

Photos circulating on social media purportedly show an Afghan soldier removing the white Taliban flag from the main square of Kunduz. Some other images apparently show people hugging soldiers, welcoming them back to the city.

Eyewitnesses reported that bodies of slain militants littered the streets after night-long fighting. Reports claim that NATO air power played an important role in driving out the Taliban, suggesting that most casualties were inflicted by airstrikes.

Coalition forces had provided air support to Afghan security forces from Tuesday, but it was not confirmed if they had taken part in the overnight operation.

Sporadic shots are still being heard in the city as some militants are still resisting. According to provincial police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, those foreign fighters and militants from other provinces who did not know the city’s geography have been stuck in side-streets and have dug in among civilian houses.

Afghanistan’s health ministry said hospitals in Kunduz have admitted hundreds of patients following the fighting.

“Hospitals in Kunduz province have received 338 injured patients and 43 fatalities in recent fighting in Kunduz city,” Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesman for the ministry, said.

Clashes reported in neighboring province

As Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) try to consolidate their grip on Kunduz city, Taliban militants have made some gains in neighboring Takhar province.

Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed that militants took control of the Khoja-e-Ghar district of Takhar province; this was denied by Afghan officials.

Provincial police chief Noor Mohammad Hakimi told Anadolu Agency that Taliban fighters had entered the center of the district, but that security forces were resisting militants in the villages.

The Taliban stepped up attacks on Afghan security forces and foreign targets during a spring offensive launched in late April.

Afghan security forces have had to fight alone after most NATO troops were pulled back from frontline zones by the end of 2014; a residual force of around 13,000 remains in place for training and advising.