Taliban withdrawing from Kunduz a welcome sign: White House

Authorities troops took back much of the city three days later, & on Monday. the Taliban formally announced the withdrawal of their last fighters.

In saying their capture of the city on September 28, the Taliban vowed to protect civilians & property, presenting themselves as liberators.

But the scars of street battles remained clearly evident in bullet-riddled and shelled buildings, with the insurgents claiming their retreat was tactical and they still had the ability to retake the city.

Hamdullah Danishi, the acting governor of Kunduz province, said shops and markets in the city had reopened and residents were venturing out of their homes.

The announcement comes long after the government claimed to have recaptured Kunduz, where insurgents burned down government buildings, gunned down opponents and freed hundreds of prisoners.

As fighting spreads in the neighbouring provinces such as Badakhshan and Takhar, concerns are mounting that the seizure of Kunduz was merely the opening gambit to tighten the insurgency’s grip across northern Afghanistan.

The militants last week attempted to overrun Maimana, the capital of Faryab province, but were pushed back by Afghan forces with the aid of pro-government militias.

Afghan forces repelled the brazen assault yesterday, but it rang security alarm bells as the largely rural insurgency threatens large cities for the first time in 14 years. The officials said Afghan forces had managed to save the bridges from destruction.

“The Islamic Emirate considered it in its best military interest to fortify its trenches surrounding the city rather than keeping the city, which would result in casualties to the mujahedeen and a unnecessary waste of ammunition”, the statement said.

The Taliban’s incursion into Kunduz, barely nine months after NATO’s combat mission concluded, has raised troubling questions about the capabilities of Afghan forces.

Security officials said the militants had slowly infiltrated Kunduz during the recent Eid festival, launching a Trojan Horse attack that enabled them to capture it within hours.

“We assure our people and the world that we are able to seize the city”, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

They also stand accused of human rights violations, including mass murder and rape, according to Amnesty global.

Kunduz police chief Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh said the city centre had been cleared and residents were starting to return.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces are under pressure after a United States air strike on October 3 pummelled a hospital in Kunduz run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), killing at least 12 staff and 10 patients.

The Mission explains that according to worldwide humanitarian law, Afghan journalists are not participants in the conflicts they cover and therefore, do not lose their status as civilians.