Afghan army trying to recapture key northern city lost to Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan _ Afghan troops, supported by U.S. airstrikes, launched an offensive Tuesday to recapture the key northern city of Kunduz, which fell to Taliban insurgents a day before, officials said.tmpplchld Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed that the government was intent on retaking the city and restoring security over Kunduz, and urged Afghans to not give in to “fear and terror.”tmpplchld The Taliban took the city in a single day with a coordinated attack. It was the first provincial capital that the insurgents have managed to capture, 14 years after being ousted from power by a U.S. invasion.tmpplchld The brazen takeover has dealt a major blow to the national unity government headed by Ghani on its first anniversary. It also shows the Taliban have the prowess to take over a major city well away from their usual rural strongholds.tmpplchld In a national televised address, Ghani tried to downplay the seizure, saying Kunduz was still “under (government) management.”tmpplchld “I want to assure the nation that everything is being done to regain control of the city ... Reinforcements, including special forces and commandos are either there or on their way there,” he said, flanked by his security cabinet.tmpplchld “The enemy uses people as a shield, and we are working hard to protect the lives of our people.”tmpplchld U.S. forces conducted airstrikes against the militants on the city outskirts, coalition official Brian Tribus said, but he did not elaborate if their ground troops were supporting Afghan forces.tmpplchld Most of the government officials had left the city, and the security forces were holed up in a hilltop airport, which has been turned into a temporary base of operation.tmpplchld At least 33 people have been killed, according to officials.tmpplchld Masoom Stanikzai, the acting defense minister, said some 17 Afghan national security forces had been killed, and 18 others injured.tmpplchld Wahidullah Mayar, a Public Healthy Ministry spokesman, said they had received 16 dead bodies and treated 193 injured people, including 28 women, in Kunduz hospitals.tmpplchld Interior Minister Noorul Haq Ulumi said security forces from neighboring provinces were arriving in Kunduz, and the government had also sent reinforcements from Kabul.tmpplchld “The fall of one or two districts in a city is not the fall of an entire city. Retaking the city immediately, considering civilians, is not realistic and is time-consuming,” he said.tmpplchld Kunduz police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said the Afghan forces were able to retake the provincial police department and the prison, from where they had released some 600 inmates, 144 of them rebels.tmpplchld But Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, contradicted this, saying they had not lost any ground, and they will continue to hold the city.tmpplchld “We are prepared for enemy attacks. The entire city is cleared of enemy forces and we also have the necessary preparation for probable confrontations and attacks from all the sides,” he said.tmpplchld He said the U.S. airstrikes caused no casualties. He also said Taliban fighters were ambushing reinforcement convoys sent from Kabul at different points along the highway to stop them from reaching Kunduz.tmpplchld “We have had no casualties and few attacks from enemy forces today,” he said, adding three Taliban fighters were killed on Monday.tmpplchld Mullah Usman, a local Taliban commander in Kunduz, said they were looking for government employees and local pro-government commanders hiding in the city.tmpplchld “We are also gathering guns and ammunitions from the locals in the city, as well as from the government buildings and a police post that we have captured.”tmpplchld Local residents said the rebels were staying in residential neighborhoods, among civilians. They also said the Taliban had robbed banks and some shops.tmpplchld An Afghan aid worker in Kunduz said there were no gunshots Tuesday and the area was totally under Taliban control.tmpplchld tmpplchld “The Taliban have told people that they will be safe and not to worry.tmpplchld “I went to the bazaar this morning to buy some stuff. The Taliban came and took our vehicles ... They also took vehicles from the GIZ (German Development Office) and other international organizations,” he said.tmpplchld One resident said he had seen Taliban riding GIZ and UN vehicles on the streets. Most of the shops and business remained closed.tmpplchld A government employee said he had barely escaped, but had to leave his family behind in a basement.tmpplchld “No one can leave because there are not any vehicles available, and there are too many Taliban checkpoints,” he said.tmpplchld “We don’t know if they are civilians or Taliban,” he said.tmpplchld The Taliban assault began before dawn on Monday as hundreds of fighters entered the city from four directions. Officials told dpa that Afghan soldiers based on a hilltop did not support the police in the city immediately.tmpplchld The Taliban took over government buildings, a courthouse, the police headquarters, and the house of the governor, who was in Tajikistan at the time.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