Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Both the Afghanistan government and the Afghan Taliban claimed to be in control of most of Kunduz City, the capital of Afghanistan’s northern province of Kunduz as reports of continued fighting on the second day of a coordinated Taliban attack poured in from the city on Tuesday.

A spokesman for the acting Afghan President General Abdur Rashid Dostum, who is also in-charge of the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan has claimed that they are in full control of Kunduz City, and the Taliban have been flushed out. However, Taliban fighters have again shared live feeds from different parts of the city till as late as midday on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, some of the local journalists have claimed that they have been told by the Afghan government not to publish any news of the Taliban advancements in Kunduz. Taliban sources confirmed retreating from fighting for the Governor House as the Afghan Special Forces joined in the fight there. “Taliban are in control of many parts, including the third division area of the Police. There is still a fight going on for the airport where most of the government forces are holed up,” a Taliban source who wished to be referred to as Qari Mehmood informed Daily Times.

The Taliban have also lost control of the central square that they had taken on Monday, where they had installed their white flag after the retreat of government forces from there. “The square has fallen to the government forces but we will soon retake it,” the extremist Qari Mehmood added. “Mujahidin have blocked the main road from Kabul to Kunduz at Baghlan in the South to cut off supplies by the Kabul government. Similarly, the road between Takhhar and Kunduz in the east is also blocked by the Taliban.”

At least two members of the Provincial Shura of Kunduz have claimed that the Taliban are still in control of some parts of the city. Some media sources mentioned the names of Amar-ud-Din Wali and Ghulam Rabbani Rabbani as the Shura members behind the claims of Taliban presence in Kunduz.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) or the Afghan Taliban as commonly known, have gained control over another district in the Southern province of Helmand after claiming control over Nawa district on Monday. “Our fighters have taken control of Khan Sheen district today (Tuesday) after the local police and government forces ran away from fighting with the Taliban,” a Taliban spokesman claimed.