Taliban, Afghan forces clash near Kunduz city

Insurgents claim control of 50 districts

Published - June 21, 2021 10:14 pm IST - Kunduz

The Taliban and Afghan forces clashed on Monday on the outskirts of the strategic northern city of Kunduz, with the insurgents claiming to have captured three districts in the region in a week.

The Taliban have launched major offensives targeting government forces since early May when the U.S. military began its final troop withdrawal, and claim to have seized more than 50 of the country’s 421 districts.

Many of their claims are disputed by the government, and independent verification is difficult.

“The Taliban fighters are at the gates of the city and they are fighting Afghan forces,” said Amruddin Wali, a Kunduz provincial council member.

He said the insurgents have also taken up positions on highways that connect Kunduz city to neighbouring provinces.

On Monday, the Taliban claimed they had captured the Imam Sahib district of the province, the third to be taken in a week.

Kunduz police spokesman Inamuddin Rahmani confirmed the fighting, and said his forces had killed about 50 Taliban fighters in the past 24 hours.

The Taliban have repeatedly attempted to capture the city, located not far from Tajikistan border. The insurgents briefly held Kunduz twice before — in September 2015, and again a year later.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.