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Fighting rages as Taliban attacks Afghanistan's Kunduz
[Al Jazeera] Hundreds of Taliban fighters have largely taken over a district in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province as intense fighting with the Afghan cops continues.After three days of festivities, Taliban fighters took over up to "65-70 percent" of the Qala-e-Zal district, Afghan officials said on Wednesday, as a part of an intensifying wave of attacks across the country. "Parts of the district have fallen into the hands of the Taliban, but our security forces are fighting them back," Mahmoud Danish, a front man for the provincial governor, told Al Jazeera. In a statement to Al Jazeera, the Taliban claimed the entire district had been fallen into their hands. Nabi Ghichi, the local police commander, told Al Jazeera that the Taliban attack began in the early hours of Monday, warning that he had little logistical support to push the gang's fighters back. District governor Mahbubullah Saeedi told the DPA news agency that 15 Taliban fighters, one Afghan security force member and one civilian have so far been killed in the fighting. Another 23 Taliban fighters and seven security force members have been maimed. Scores of families have fled the district after the fight erupted. "Most of the houses are empty as many fled the ongoing conflict in the district," Ajmal, a local journalist based in Kunduz, told Al Jazeera. "It looks like the fight will continue for the next few days." Posted by: Fred 2016-07-21 |
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