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| Afghanistan | |
| Taliban Still A Threat To Kunduz | |
| 2016-10-22 | |
The lawmakers argued that a move to terminate military operations would give the Taliban a chance to regroup and attack the city once again. ‎ Last year the Taliban managed to seize control of Kunduz city for a few days, a takeover that marked an important gain for the group since it was toppled from the power in 2001. However the Taliban once again launched an offensive on the city earlier in September and took control in some parts of the city. The onslaught sparked a major outcry among the Afghan political elite and public with many terming poor war leadership as the main reason for the failure to secure the strategic town. After ten days of fierce fighting, the security forces repelled the group, but the battles left scores of civilians dead and hundreds others wounded while hundreds of families fled. ‎ "The operations must be planned in a very systematic way. There is a need for nighttime operations, offensive operations and siege operations to bring the entire area in Kunduz under control, if we thoroughly asses the geography of Kunduz, we can easily take control of the entire Kunduz," said Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, ex-deputy minister of interior. "The area which you see belongs to the department of agriculture, on the backside, the opponents can move around easily, all residential homes in the area are under threat," said a member of Kunduz provincial council Amruddin Wali. Kunduz has nine districts with three of them out of government's control. Taliban control the majority of these three districts. Besides Kunduz city, the security situation in Kunduz-Baghlan and Kunduz-Khanabad and Takhar highway is also critical. "The question is that the clearance operations were terminated. Why is time being given to the Taliban to make new arrangements and mobilize?" asked lawmaker Fatima Aziz.‎ "The decision and direction from the center is that there should not be any opponent in Kunduz and all areas need to be cleared," said Mohammad Masoom Safai, head of Kunduz security department. Residents and military analysts argue that the Taliban could attack Kunduz in the spring again unless the government takes steps to address the security problems. | |
| Posted by:badanov |