By Zabihullah Tamanna

KABUL, Afghanistan

Taliban militants have seized the strategic city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan after 14 hours of intense fighting.

Afghan security forces have pulled out of the city, according to army commander General Murad Ali Murad.

The fall of Kunduz is the first major victory for Taliban militants in 14 years of war and comes less than a year after U.S.-led NATO forces ended combat missions in Afghanistan.

The general said the decision to pull back was taken to “prevent civilian casualties,” before adding that security forces are regrouping within the city’s airport, located some kilometers outside central Kunduz.

The Taliban attacked at 2:00 a.m. local time [2130 GMT] Monday from within Kunduz city by militants who already had dug in inside houses.

Groups of militants stormed the city from the north, east and west, closing off routes for state reinforcements arriving from central and neighboring provinces.

Reinforcements arrived late Monday afternoon from Kabul and were stationed in the city’s suburbs; an attempt to retake the lost ground may start by Tuesday morning.

“We assure people that we will liberate the city soon from terrorists,” General Murad said.

Official buildings destroyed; prison emptied

However, independent sources say that both sides have suffered heavy fatalities, but Afghan officials provided limited details on casualties, claiming that they have inflicted heavy losses while only three Afghan security personnel perished in the fight.

Earlier in the day, provincial police spokesman, Colonel Saed Sarwar Hussaini, told Anadolu Agency at least 20 militants were killed, adding that reinforcements of police and army, backed by the Afghan Air Force, had been sent to Kunduz province, located some 250 kilometers north of Kabul.

However, unverified pictures circulating on social media showed Taliban militants hoisting flags in several parts of the city; it also showed militants searching for wounded security personnel with the help of a medic at a provincial hospital.

Eyewitnesses report scores of bodies on the streets following 14 hours of fierce fighting. They were killed in early hours of the attack.

Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders), which runs a trauma hospital in the province, tweeted that the “hospital has treated 102 patients, 36 of them are in critical conditions. It has received eight dead on arrival."

The state hospital, which is now in Taliban control, has also received bodies and wounded people.

Director of the provincial health department, Saad Mukhtar, said that: "Four bodies and 48 wounded were transferred to provincial hospitals following the fighting in Kunduz city this morning. Most of the injured were civilians, who received shrapnel and bullet wounds."

He added that casualty figures may increase as some of the wounded remained in critical condition.

Some militants have reportedly entered homes of civilians and were using them as bases; some houses reportedly caught fire during the attack and there are fears that some families might be trapped inside.

Taliban fighters destroyed the national intelligence building, governor and city police office, army facilities and a private TV station named Rawshani. Power has been out since the early morning and communications services are extremely poor, with limited coverage.

Officials also reported that the Taliban has overrun the local prison and liberated all inmates.

“[The] Taliban freed more than 600 inmates, most of them insurgents, from the provincial central jail,” deputy provincial council member, Amrullah Wali said.

A local Afghan journalist speaking from the city on condition of anonymity told Anadolu Agency that Taliban militants have been searching house-by-house for governmental staff, security personnel and civil society members.

“Taliban militants with loudspeakers were preaching their messages in every part of the city and marched with armored vehicles seized from the security forces,” he said.

All governmental staff have escaped to the airport and areas under government control; “They are queuing to be evacuated to the capital, Kabul,” the journalist added.

Amnesty International has called on all parties fighting in Kunduz to ensure civilians are protected in accordance with international law.

In a statement issued today (Monday), Amnesty said: “The Taliban and Afghan security forces must ensure that civilians are protected in accordance with international law and that nobody is targeted in reprisals against their work."

 UN, NGO workers evacuated

Reportedly, militants entered local UN offices after people working with United Nations and other NGOs were evacuated by chopper to safe zones.

The militants also launched coordinated attacks on two neighboring districts: Chardara and Archi. Fierce fighting in two neighboring provinces to Kunduz – Baghlan and Takhar – has broken out between insurgents and security forces.

According to local officials from Takhar province, Taliban militants launched a massive attack on Eshkamish district late Monday afternoon.

Kunduz, a strategically important province, bordering Tajikistan, has seen heavy clashes in the past few months with three districts reportedly under Taliban control.