In a surprise attack Monday, Taliban forces in Afghanistan seized a major portion of the region’s provincial capital of Kunduz.
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The province of Kunduz “contains major roads that connect central and northern Afghanistan”, notes BBC.
Saad Mukhtar, the head of a 200-bed government hospital, said the Taliban had control of the building and were hunting for wounded Afghan troops.
Reportedly filmed in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar in June, the “horrific” footage apparently shows ISIS fighters brutally murdering a group of blindfolded tribal elders and villagers. The Taleban are in control of around half of Kunduz, Afghanistan’s fifth largest city, a senior police official said yesterday.
“We are prepared and measures have been taken to recapture the city”, the deputy interior minister, Ayoub Salangi, told reporters. They were killed in early hours of the attack. Analysts say the group has been recruiting disaffected Taliban insurgents and stepped up its efforts following the revelation earlier this year that the longtime Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar died in Pakistan more than two years ago.
A hospital official confirmed Taliban fighters had entered the building for a short time. Power has been out since the early morning and communications services are extremely poor, with limited coverage.
The assault began shortly before dawn when hundreds of Taliban began advancing into the city from four different directions.
The attack coincided with the deployment of security forces away from Kunduz city; the province’s governor and security chief were also out of town.
“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.
“The Taliban must not target any civilian simply for their work – whether they are a journalist, teacher, government official or rights activist – and must ensure that there are no reprisal attacks against them”.
Amnesty worldwide has called on all parties fighting in Kunduz to ensure civilians are protected in accordance with global law.
“The mujahideen are trying to avoid any harm to Kunduz residents”, he said on his official Twitter account, referring to Taliban fighters.
The fall of Kunduz would be a huge blow to the Western-backed government in Kabul and give Taliban insurgents a critical base of operations beyond their traditional strongholds in Afghanistan’s south.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s thinly-spread security forces are increasingly having to deal with the threat from the self-styled Islamic State group, which is looking to make inroads in the troubled country.
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Authorities were similarly blind-sided by the April attack and subsequent massing of fighters across the northern provinces, raising questions about the adequacy of the government’s security and defense agencies.
