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| Afghanistan |
| Fighting Ongoing In Kunduz Despite Recapture of City |
| 2015-10-02 |
| [Tolo News] Thousands of reinforcement troops were on Thursday still fighting their way northwards along the Baghlan-Kunduz highway in order to help secure the embattled city of Kunduz where fighting has again broken out -- this time in three separate areas. In an overnight operation, local security forces and special forces stationed at the city's airport, carried out a counter-offensive to take back the city after it fell to holy warriors on Monday. Officials say that 6,000 security force members in total took part in the operation and were assisted by U.S forces. Speaking to TOLOnews earlier Thursday Gen. Murad Ali Murad, the deputy chief of staff of the Afghan National Army (ANA), told TOLOnews that security forces - particularly the special forces, with the help of coalition air support - had retaken control of the embattled city after launching an offensive at about 11pm Wednesday night. According to Murad hundreds of Taliban holy warriors were killed during the offensive. Murad said ongoing clearance operations are underway in various parts of the city and province and will continue until the holy warriors have been fully suppressed. Another official said Thursday that security forces have requested government's permission to conduct house-to-house searches in the city for Taliban fighters who are in hiding. Security force members in the city have however called for backup. But breaching defense lines along the Baghlan-Kunduz highway, which is the primary route leading into the northern provinces, has been a major challenge for hundreds of reinforcement troops who have come under heavy fire from the Taliban. Key obstacles facing the troops include landmines and checkpoints where the holy warriors lie in wait to ambush the convoy of troop carriers, tanks and armored vehicles. The immediate area is heavily wooded -- making it easy for the holy warriors to hide. They are reportedly also using heavy artillery against the troops in their bid to keep them from reaching the city. It is believed the convoy is only about 50kms from the city but currently they are inching forward very slowly. Meanwhile Parliament's Speaker of the House Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi said Thursday morning that a team has been appointed to investigate the collapse of the city to the Taliban. He said one of the possible reasons for the collapse of the city was that the Kunduz governor Omar Safai was irresponsible and inexperienced and he failed to get people to stand by and support security forces. Another reason, he said was the delay in a planned military operation. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... he said that the Kunduz residents face serious hardships. Many he said had fled the city and some were sleeping out in open fields. "The hospitals are not working and there is no food. The bakeries are closed," he said. He called on government to meet with aid organizations to assist in assessing the problem and to get help for those affected. Ibrahimi also said that exact casualty figures were not yet available. He did however say that local police must not be blamed for the collapse of Kunduz and instead they must be praised for fighting off the Taliban. |
| Posted by:Fred |