Taliban insurgents launched a massive assault on the northern city of Kunduz Monday, seizing a courthouse, a hospital and other government buildings, and freeing hundreds of inmates from a prison, despite a series of battles with government forces.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told The Associated Press that "Kunduz city has collapsed into the hands of the Taliban."
"Security forces in Kunduz were prepared for an attack, but not one of this size, and not one that was coordinated in 10 different locations at the same time," Sediqqi said.
"With capturing of police compound and governor's office in Kunduz, the whole province fell to our hands,” the Taliban's spokesman said Monday on his Twitter account.
The Taliban used social media to claim the "conquest" of Kunduz and reassure residents that the extremist group -- responsible for the vast majority of nearly 5,000 civilian casualties in the first half of this year, according to the United Nations -- came in peace.
The fast-moving assault took military and intelligence agencies by surprise as the insurgents descended on the city. It marked the first time the insurgents have seized a major urban area since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
Read More: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/09/29/taliban-seize-half-afghanistan-strategic-kunduz-city/
No comments:
Post a Comment