The Taliban earlier today seized partial control of a major Afghan city, witnesses said, the first time they have done so since being ousted from power by a US-led invasion.
The hardline group hoisted its flag over key buildings and the main square of the northeastern city of Kunduz, offering a potentially powerful image in a country that laboured under its rule until 2001.
“The Taliban have taken over our neighbourhood, which is part of Kunduz city, I can see their fighters all around,” said an AFP journalist in the city, Afghanistan’s fifth largest.
He added that some were racing police vehicles around the city and had raised the black and white flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the group’s official name) over the homes of government officials.
The Taliban’s ability to penetrate the city, even if only temporary, will be seen as a major psychological blow to the country’s NATO-trained police and army who have been fighting the militants this year without the front-line help of foreign forces since the end of their combat mission in December 2014.
The group has been largely absent from cities since being driven from power by the US and its allies, but has maintained often-brutal rule over swathes of the countryside.
A senior tribal elder in Kunduz, 150 miles (250 kilometres) north of Kabul, said the militia had control of one of the city’s districts, while a second elder added his house was now around 100 metres (yards) from their forward line.
“The Taliban are less than one kilometre from the city’s centre,” the elder, who requested anonymity, added.
Saad Mukhtar, head of a 200-bed government hospital, said the Taliban had control of the building and were hunting for wounded Afghan troops.
Government officials denied the reports that Taliban were in charge, and said they are battling the insurgents on the city’s outskirts.
“The city has been cleared of the enemy but still challenges remain in some areas including police district number three,” Sediq Sediqi, a spokesman for the interior ministry told a news conference, adding that the Afghan air force was carrying out strikes.
He said that so far 25 enemy fighters had been killed, revising down an earlier figure of 35 given by the government.
