Afghan forces ‘recapture Kunduz from Taliban’

If Kunduz falls it would be the first major city to be held by the Taliban since their government was toppled in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Taliban “death squads” were responsible for mass murder, gang rapes and house-to-house searches during their siege on Kunduz city, Amnesty worldwide said in a statement.

It’s at what’s going to be viewed as an important success in the conflict from the Taliban insurgency jubilant.

On Wednesday, a group of coalition special forces, including USA troops, engaged the Taliban in a ground clash, said the spokesman, Col. Brian Tribus. Bullets broke windows and pierced the roof of the intensive care unit, Dr. Masood Nasim said. “Now we have starting attacking the city again and will advance to the airport”, Mujahid said.

Inhabitants said fighters were leading house-to-house looks and had expelled the Taliban banner from the focal square, supplanting it with government hues.

The facility has a 92-bed capacity but the medical staff scrambled.

“The majority of patients had sustained gunshot wounds, and surgeons have been treating severe abdominal, limb and head injuries”, the aid group said in a statement.

He is urging Kunduz inhabitants to “continue their normal life”.

Residents described a terrifying night of heavy fighting.

The Taliban victory represents a major blow to Afghani security forces, which have been fighting the insurgents mostly on their own since the beginning of the year. Campbell is scheduled to testify to Congress next week, including on the effectiveness of Afghan forces after a tough summer of fighting.

Zabihullah, a Kunduz resident living close to the main city square, who like many Afghans prefers to use one name, said that “intense fighting is continuing on the streets of the city”.

“Enemy claims regarding the Kunduz situation are not true”. US forces conducted two airstrikes October. 1, at approximately 3 p.m. on the outskirts of Kunduz city.

The developments came the same day the Afghan government claimed it had successfully retaken Kunduz from Taliban fighters who had controlled the city since Monday.

Sediqqi said that the Taliban militants suffered heavy casualties. “Dead Taliban are on the streets, but there are still (militants) in a few government buildings fighting Afghan forces”. Mir Alam and Nabi Gechi are local militia fighters on the side of the government. It was unclear how many insurgent fighters had been killed, but Mr Seddiqi said it was in the hundreds. The options all call for keeping a higher-than-planned troop presence based on his judgment of what it would take to sustain the Afghan army and minimize the chances of losing more ground gained over more than a decade of costly US combat, they said.

Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah told Reuters on Wednesday that the crisis in Kunduz demonstrated the need for foreign troops to stay in the country.

Earlier in the morning, Mujahid had sent a text message to The Associated Press, saying that “the United States, with their puppets, have been bombing Kunduz city”. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retribution.

The capture of the city by the Taliban, which began with a co-ordinated attack on Monday, took the government, military and intelligence agencies by surprise.

CNN’s Masoud Popalzai reported from Kabul, Bex Right and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong.