Afghan forces retake district in Kuduz Province
Security forces in Afghanistan have retaken control of a northeastern district in the country that had fallen to Taliban militants hours earlier.
Security officials in Afghanistan confirmed late Saturday that government forces recaptured the Khanabad district in the restive Kunduz Province from the Taliban militants.
The militants had overrun the district in fierce clashes with security forces earlier in the day.
The district is a strategic one, connecting Kunduz to Takhar and other northern provinces. Afghan officials had cited a lack of ammunition and reinforcement as the main reason for the district’s fall.
“All checkpoints around us collapsed. We did not have sufficient weapons to fight and food to eat for four days. Finally, our check posts collapsed and we evacuated the area and arrived in the center of Kunduz,” said Serajuddin, an Afghan National Police (ANP) officer.
Local reports said hundreds of civilians from the area had fled to the east, toward Takhar Province following the Taliban offensive to take the area.
The officials have not provided any details about the number of casualties in clashes between security forces and the militants.
Taliban militants have intensified their attacks on Kunduz and launched numerous offensives on key districts of the province during the past several months.
The militants have also attempted on several occasions to take control of the provincial capital city of the same name. They did seize it briefly last year before being driven out in a counteroffensive by Afghan military forces.
Afghanistan is still suffering from insecurity and violence years after the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The military invasion removed the Taliban from power, but their militancy continues in the country.
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