KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (APP) – Afghan forces were conducting clearing operations in Kunduz early Tuesday, warning that Taliban militants were hiding in civilian homes after an hours-long assault on the city repelled with the help of NATO air support.
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Helicopters hovered over the strategic provincial capital and special forces were stationed in the main square, but with fighting still in the outskirts residents remained fearful and most shops and businesses were shuttered, an AFP correspondent there said.
The assault launched early Monday came just over a year after militants briefly seized the provincial capital, and as President Ashraf Ghani flew to Brussels to meet world leaders for a crucial foreign aid conference.
“Security forces have intensified their clearing operation since last night,” interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told a press conference in Kabul, adding that fighting was ongoing in the city’s outskirts.
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He said at least 30 Taliban fighters had been killed, contradicting an earlier police source who put the figure at “hundreds”.
A defence ministry spokesman said three Afghan soldiers had been killed and seven wounded in the fighting, while hospital officials in the city said one civilian had been killed and around 40 wounded.
Kunduz provincial governor Assadullah Omarkhil said the operation was still ongoing.
“It is a bit slow because the Taliban are using people’s houses to hide,” he said, asking residents to stay in their homes.
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NATO forces in Afghanistan said the Afghan government “controls Kunduz”,and that there had been one “US air-to-ground engagement” by helicopter defending Afghan forces on the outskirts of the city.
But the Taliban insisted that “heavy attacks” were still underway, with a spokesman saying on Twitter that the militants were advancing. The insurgents are known to exaggerate their claims.