Afghan officials say gov’t troops retake Kunduz
Taliban battles on despite government claims about Kunduz
Taliban continues fighting in pockets of city.
Government forces retook Kunduz and were mopping up pockets of Taliban resistance in the beleaguered northern city, Afghan officials said Thursday.
President Ashraf Ghani praised his forces, which launched a final six-hour assault that drove Taliban militants from the city. He said no Afghan troops were killed.
But heavy street battles were still taking place Thursday, raising questions about the government’s claims and highlighting the uncertainty of the situation.
“Small guerrilla forces remain in various neighborhoods. We have to clear all the surrounding areas and open transport links so people can come and go,” Defense Minister Masoom Stanekzai said, according to the Associated Press.
The collapse of Kunduz on Monday was a blow to the Afghan government, which hadn’t lost a major city to the Taliban since the militants were driven from power in 2001 by a U.S.-led coalition. Ghani’s office said the government would investigate how the city fell.
The coalition has launched eight airstrikes over the past several days, and U.S. Special Forces troops returned fire when they came under attack Thursday in Kunduz, but the bulk of the fighting was carried out by Afghan forces, government and coalition officials said.
The coalition has characterized the airstrikes as defensive, in order to protect coalition personnel.
“Afghan Security Forces have full responsibility for their operations in Kunduz,” said Col. Brian Tribus, a coalition spokesman in Kabul.
Afghan commandos, who have been extensively trained by U.S. Special Forces, were part of the battle in Kunduz.
They are considered among the best trained special forces troops in the region and may have been the reason the city was recaptured so quickly.
Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s interior minister, said, “This is a huge blow for the Taliban. It proves Afghan special forces are elite fighters who can win battles,” according to the BBC.
“This is a huge blow for the Taliban. It proves Afghan special forces are elite fighters who can win battles.”
Sediq Sediqqi, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry