Taleban giving tough time to Afghan forces in Ghazni

Amanullah Kamrani,

ghazni — The fight for the eastern Afghan city of Ghazni entered its third day as Taleban militants and security forces engaged in heavy clashes on Sunday, despite Kabul’s claim that the city was firmly under government control.

An AFP reporter on the ground said Taleban fighters continued to roam the city, torching government offices, and were in control of several police checkpoints, as reinforcements deployed from Kabul slowly entered the area to confront the insurgents.

Residents hid in their homes or attempted to flee the fighting, with basic provisions increasingly scarce and expensive, according to residents and officials.

“The situation is chaotic,” Amanullah Kamrani, deputy head of the Ghazni provincial council, told AFP from Kabul.

“In Ghazni, only the police headquarters, governor’s office and a few departments are under Afghan forces’ control — the rest are under the Taleban fighters’ control,” he added.

Ghazni resident Rahmatullah Andar described similar scenes in an interview with broadcaster Tolonews, saying fighting continued to rage in large swathes of the city and outlying districts. “There are not

In Ghazni, only the police headquarters, governor’s office and a few departments are under Afghan forces’ control — the rest are under the Taleban fighters’ control.

An official of the provincial council

sufficient forces to repel the Taleban fighters. We have not witnessed such a large scale attack by the Taleban before,” said Andar.

Mobile services in the city remained down after militants damaged a telecommunication tower and targeted several media offices in Ghazni, making information difficult to verify.

The descriptions stood in stark contrast to statements from Afghan and US officials, who said government forces were firmly in control of the city and vowed that Ghazni was in no danger of being seized by the Taleban .

The Afghan military said a clearance operation targeting Taleban fighters was ongoing, insisting they remained in control of key government offices. “The Taleban are hiding in people’s houses and shops...

to avoid civilian casualties our forces are moving in slowly,” said General Sharif Yaftali, Afghanistan’s top military official, during a press conference on Sunday.

Ghazni — around two hours by road from the capital Kabul — has been under increasing danger from massing Taleban fighters for months, with reports suggesting insurgents had infiltrated the city at will. The onslaught was the latest attempt by the Taleban to overrun

an urban centre and comes as pressure increases on the insurgents to begin peace talks with the government to end the nearly 17-year-old war.

The attack was the largest tactical operation launched by the Taleban since an unprecedented truce in June brought fighting between security forces and the Taleban to a temporary pause, providing warweary Afghans some welcome relief.—