According to provincial police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, Tuesday’s air raids by Afghan and U.S. forces on Taliban killed in total “nearly 160 militants” in Kunduz.
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“We actually wanted to capture the airport and organised a big attack last night”, said a Taleban commander close to Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the militants’ new leader.
At least 33 people were said to have been killed, officials said Tuesday.
The insurgents also set up checkpoints to ensure that no one leaves. The roadblocks also kept essential supplies of food and medicine from reaching the city of a few 300,000 people. “Coalition special forces advisers, while advising and assisting elements of the Afghan Security Forces, encountered an insurgent threat in the vicinity of the Kunduz airport at approximately 1 a.m.” he told Reuters.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan peaked at around 100,000 but most had withdrawn by the end of 2014.
Despite promises by Afghan government officials to retake Kunduz quickly, the lack of reinforcements and the Taliban’s aggressive tactics point to a potentially long and bloody fight.
Baryalai, another resident, said there was no fighting at noon.
The options are said to be based on Campbell’s judgment of what it would take to sustain the Afghan army and minimize the chances of losing more ground gained over more than a decade of costly USA combat, The Associated Press reported.
However, the morale of Afghan troops was flagging after two days of continuous fighting there, a district official said.
“Logistics are vital to operations like that in Kunduz and they have made improvements in planning operational logistics”, he said.
The progress of government reinforcements has been slowed by Taliban ambushes in the roads leading up to the city, as well as landmines.
The situation in Kunduz has heightened concerns among US military commanders that current plans to cut the number of American troops in Afghanistan may be premature.
The loss of Kunduz may prove temporary, but it has underscored the fragility of Afghan security and hardened the view of those who favor keeping USA troops there beyond 2016.
“There’s no electricity, no water, and ration shops are all closed”, she said, adding that insurgents had burned down the radio station.
The timing of a decision on new USA troop levels is unclear. He is due to testify in Congress on October. 6.
Kunduz is the first major urban center the insurgents have occupied since the American invasion that ousted them from power in 2001 following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “They’re not directly engaged in the fight”.
This comes as reports emerged late on Tuesday suggesting the former governor of Kunduz province Mohammad Omar Safi has left the country after the fall of Kunduz city. The airport remained in Afghan government hands.
Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said on his Twitter account that Kunduz hospitals received “172 wounded patients and 16 dead bodies so far”.
Amnesty worldwide said the Taliban were exposing civilians to grave danger by “hiding in people’s houses and conducting door-to-door searches for Afghan security personnel or government staff”.
Afghan security forces are struggling in their attempt to wrest the major city of Kunduz back from Taliban militants.
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