Afghan forces retake Kunduz, government says

KABUL, Afghanistan _ The Afghan military retook control of the strategic northern city of Kunduz from Taliban forces overnight, officials said Thursday.tmpplchld “The only remaining parts to be cleared are the outskirts of Kunduz, which is going to be cleared of the insurgent presence soon,” Hamdullah Danishi, the acting governor of Kunduz, told dpa.tmpplchld “At the moment we cannot give any Afghan security forces casualty figures due to the ongoing operation, but during the last three days of fighting hundreds of Taliban have been killed.”tmpplchld The Taliban overran Kunduz, a city of 300,000 people, on Monday after a surprise assault involving hundreds of fighters, pushing government forces back to the local airport.tmpplchld Most of the government forces and officials were besieged on the hill where the airport is located as the insurgents launched further assaults and ambushed reinforcements sent from the capital.tmpplchld U.S. special forces and NATO coalition advisers supported the Afghan troops in the retaking of the city from the militants, an Afghan official said Thursday on condition of anonymity.tmpplchld He did not say if they were involved in combat operations, or just an advisory role.tmpplchld U.S. forces conducted at least three airstrikes in Kunduz, two of them near the airport, “for coalition force protection reasons” since Monday, according to a U.S. military official.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