Afghan
policemen keep watch in the downtown of Kunduz city, Afghanistan October 3,
2016. REUTERS/Nasir Wakif
Reuters - Taliban
fighters attacked the northern Afghan city of Kunduz overnight, entering urban
areas and threatening a repeat of the assault in which they seized the city
exactly a year ago.
Sheer Ali
Kamawal, commander of the 808 Tandar police zone in Kunduz, said the attack
began at around midnight (1930 GMT Sunday) and fighting was going on in and
around the city. Some Taliban fighters had entrenched themselves in homes.
The fighters
appear to have slipped through a defensive security line set up around Kunduz,
entering the city itself before clashes broke out, witnesses in the city said.
In Kabul,
Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, spokesman for Afghanistan's NATO-led
force, said he was aware of reports of sporadic fighting in Kunduz but said he
had not seen evidence of a major Taliban offensive.
"At this
point, we are not observing evidence via our internal means to support the
reports that Kunduz is under significant attack," he said in an emailed
statement.
Police
spokesman Mahfozullah Akbari said security forces were preparing to drive out
the fighters, who had infiltrated the Khak Kani area in the city's southwest.
"The
Taliban are inside some civilian houses and we have to carry out operations
very carefully," he said.
The interior
ministry said reinforcements were being sent.
Military
helicopters flew overhead and gunfire could be heard in Kunduz, where a year
ago to the day, Afghan troops backed by U.S. air strikes and special forces
battled to drive out Taliban who had raised their flag in the city center.
On Monday, a
Reuters reporter saw at least five Taliban fighters armed with AK-47 assault
rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the city. He saw fighters
entering homes and taking up position on roofs.
The attack, a
day before the start of a major donor conference in Brussels, underlines
Afghanistan's precarious security. Government forces are estimated to have
control over at most two-thirds of the country.
Taliban
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in his official Twitter account four
government checkpoints in Kunduz had been captured and some soldiers had been
killed.
"A
massive operation started on Kunduz capital from four directions early this
morning," he said.
ATTACKS ACROSS
AFGHANISTAN
The attack
came as the Taliban have stepped up attacks in different parts of Afghanistan,
including the southern province of Helmand, where they have been threatening
the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.
On Monday,
Taliban fighters, positioned just across the Helmand river from the center of
Lashkar Gah, also took control of Nawa district to the south, killing a
district police chief, officials said.
Heavy fighting
has also continued along the main highway to Tarin Kot, the provincial capital
of Uruzgan, also in the south, where a Taliban raid on Sept. 8 sparked fears of
another collapse like that in Kunduz last year.
The raid on
Tarin Kot was beaten back but alarmed security officials because the militants
were able to enter the city without significant resistance after police
abandoned dozens of checkpoints.
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.
Although the
insurgents abandoned Kunduz after a few days, their capture of a provincial
capital underlined their growing strength and exposed flaws in Afghan security
forces.
Afghanistan's
international partners are expected to approve maintaining billions of dollars
in funding for the government over the next four years at the two-day Brussels
meeting.
Reuters
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