Afghan forces fail to retake Kunduz as Taliban hold grip on key city

KABUL, Afghanistan _ Taliban forces pressed their advantage in the key northern city of Kunduz on Wednesday, launching further assaults on government forces and ambushing reinforcements sent from the capital, officials said.tmpplchld They also captured a military base on the outskirts of the city, two days after taking Kunduz itself, the capital of the strategic province with the same name.tmpplchld “Bala-e-Hisar (military camp) has fallen to the Taliban, and around 60 national army soldiers have surrendered to the Taliban forces,� said Sayed Asadullah Sadat, a member of the Kunduz provincial council.tmpplchld “The soldiers made a deal to leave half of their weapons and ammunition to the Taliban in exchange for their lives,� said another member of the provincial council, Aminullah Ayuddin.tmpplchld The base is located north of the city and was vital to secure the highway to Sher Khan Bandar, a port town on the border with Tajikistan.tmpplchld The Taliban took control of Kunduz, a city of 300,000 people, after a surprise assault involving hundreds of fighters pushed government forces back to the local airport.tmpplchld “The Taliban still hold their positions,� Sadat said. “The reinforcements from Kabul and Takhar have been ambushed and could not reach Kunduztmpplchld “I seriously doubt the government’s capability to retake Kunduz if they cannot even send reinforcements successfully,� he said.tmpplchld Afghan forces and government officials were besieged on the hill where the airport is located as the insurgents launched assaults all through Tuesday night.tmpplchld U.S. and NATO coalition forces were supporting Afghan troops trying to retake the city from the militants, an official said.tmpplchld “There are limited coalition forces in the Kunduz area advising and assisting,� said Col. Brian Tribus, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.tmpplchld U.S. forces conducted three airstrikes in Kunduz, two of them near the airport, “for coalition force protection reasons,� he said.tmpplchld tmpplchld Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the Afghan Public Health Ministry, said 43 bodies had been taken to Kunduz hospitals, which had treated 338 injured people.tmpplchld The toll did not include at least 17 Afghan security forces who had been killed, the Defence Ministry said.tmpplchld Local Taliban commander Mullah Usman said the Islamist militia was in control of most of the city.tmpplchld tmpplchld Meanwhile, the Afghan parliament summoned members of the security council _ including the intelligence chief, the interior minister and the acting defense minister _ for questioning about the fall of Kunduz.tmpplchld “It is shameful how the government is dealing with the situation in Kunduz,� lawmaker Iqbal Safi said during a televised session. He called on President Ashraf Ghani to quit.tmpplchld Rahmatullah Nabil, the head of the Afghan spy agency, apologized for failing to thwart the Taliban attack.tmpplchld Lawmakers also asked for an official investigation into why Kunduz fell and where the Taliban got their weapons.tmpplchld Although the Afghan government promised a counteroffensive on Kunduz, security forces did not make any headway Tuesday, officials said.tmpplchld Foreign troops supported Afghan forces from the ground and from the air during the nighttime battles, Kunduz police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said.tmpplchld Essa Khan, a Kunduz resident, said he saw “a lot of injured people, mostly civilians, running for treatment to hospitals� after the U.S. airstrikes.tmpplchld “The city is totally shut,� he said. “People do not have food to eat and gas to cook. What is left with them is quickly depleting.�tmpplchld “Last night, the Taliban attacked the airport, but there were airstrikes, which caused fatalities among the Taliban and forced them to retreat,� he said, adding that government forces were all hunkered down on the airport hill.tmpplchld “Right now, I can’t even escape to any neighboring provinces because there is heavy fighting going on at the highway,� he said. “There is nowhere to go.�tmpplchld Baryalai, another resident, said fighting died down at midday.tmpplchld “Anything the government says is a lie because we have not seen any reinforcements coming from any provinces,� said Baryalai.tmpplchld A top U.N. official in Afghanistan said he was deeply concerned about the situation in Kunduz.tmpplchld “The reports of extrajudicial executions, including of health care workers, abductions, denial of medical care and restrictions on movement out of the city are particularly disturbing,� said Nicholas Haysom, the special representative of the U.N. secretary general.tmpplchld A statement from his office said up to 6,000 civilians have fled the city to escape the fighting.tmpplchld Kunduz was the first major city to be taken by the Taliban in the 14 years of conflict that has followed their ouster in a 2001 U.S.-led invasion. The city’s fall highlights the Islamist movement’s ability to mount large operations away from its rural strongholds.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)tmpplchld Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.htmltmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld