Afghan Taliban enter Kunduz city a year after siege

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – The Taliban in northern Afghanistan have managed to yet again overrun the key town of Kunduz, a year after they were driven from the city after briefly seizing it.

In the early hours of Monday, groups of Taliban fighters stormed Kunduz City, the capital of Tajikistan-bordering Kunduz province, from four directions and by late afternoon had managed to enter the city.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense has not confirmed the reports from locals that the Taliban have entered the city and there are no official reports about casualties yet.

Ameerudin Wali, a member of the provincial council, told Anadolu Agency the rebels have captured the main square in the city and hoisted their notorious white flag.

Ghulam Rabbani, another provincial council member, warned that if no fresh contingents of the Afghan army arrived the provincial capital could completely fall to the Taliban.

The attack came as President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani left to attend the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan in the Belgian capital. The NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan has said it is ready to respond to the developing situation.

Last year a U.S. forces hit a Doctors without Borders hospital, killing at last 42 people. The charity had to cancel an event marking the anniversary of the strike because of the fresh violence.