Taliban's Kunduz Attack Another Afghan Setback

A Taliban attack in Kunduz on Monday where fighters entered the center of the city and took control of the central intersection is another setback for Afghanistan.

According to witnesses and police, Reuters reported, the Taliban attackers were going for the governor’s compound and police headquarters when they entered the city in the early hours of the morning.

The attack comes just a day before a major international donors’ conference in Brussels and it highlights Afghanistan’s tricky security situation as well as the Taliban’s ability to strike important targets at will, Reuters noted.

A year ago, Kunduz was attacked by insurgents who took control of the city, holding off Afghan’s security forces, which was backed by U.S. troops and air power.

This time though, security forces were able to keep the attackers at bay, however that didn’t stop attackers from killing a policeman and wounding four in their fight.

Footage posted on social media by the Afghan Taliban showed fighters in Kunduz walking the empty streets while describing how they had captured members of the army and taken prisoners, The Huffington Post reported. The footage’s authenticity remains in question, though.

Apparently the fighters were able to slip through a defensive security line that’s set up around the city, allowing them to enter into Kunduz from four different directions, the Post noted.

The Taliban fighters were said to have been armed with AK-47 assault rifles, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades as they walked around the streets, entering homes and positioning themselves on rooftops, Reuters reported.

Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, spokesman for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Kabul, referred to the situation in Kunduz as “fluid” and added that U.S. forces are ready to step in.

“Our Afghan partners are responding to the increased Taliban activity within the area, and U.S. forces have multiple assets and enablers in the area to provide support,” he said in a statement.

A ceremony to honor the first anniversary of a U.S. air strike was supposed to take place Monday, but it was canceled as a result of the attack on Kunduz.

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