- Mullah Mansour says Taliban victory in northern city should not be attributed to ‘foreign intelligence’
- Afghan national forces launch counter-attack to retake Kunduz
Afghan Taliban supreme commander Mullah Akhtar Mansour on Tuesday asked the Afghan government to accept its defeat in Kunduz, advising Kabul against the attribution of Taliban victory to foreign intelligence, as US military planes hit Taliban positions on the outskirts of the fallen northern Afghan city and Afghan national forces launched a counter-attack to try to retake the city.
Mansour’s comments come in the wake of US-led NATO bombing of the Taliban fighters in Kunduz; however, the air strikes seemed to have little impact on the positions of the Taliban.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the American strikes were “useless”, whereas Taliban chief praised the Taliban ‘victory’ and asked the fighters to offer special “thanksgiving prayers.”
“The leadership of the Islamic Emirate congratulates all Mujahideen and the Mujahid nation over the major victory, and advises them to offer special thanks giving prayers,” Mansour said.
He urged Taliban fighters inside the city to “take care of the people’s life and their property” at the end of the operations and achieving all objectives. “The people should not have any concern about their safety,” he said in a Pashto-language statement.
“Taliban will not enter the houses of the people. All government offices, hospitals and educational institutions, should continue their normal work.”
Mansour said those soldiers who do not want to fight, should have no concerns about their lives as the “Mujahideen have no intention to take revenge. They should contact the Mujahideen and they will enjoy amnesty.”
“As the government has now faced a humiliating defeat, it should not call it interference of others but accept its defeat. The government should accept the victory of the Mujahideen,” the statement added.
US AIRSTRIKES AND AFGHAN COUNTER ATTACK:
The US aerial attack at about 9 am marked the first US air strike to defend the city.
“US forces conducted an air strike in Kunduz today to eliminate a threat to coalition and Afghan forces operating in the vicinity of Kunduz,” said Colonel Brian Tribus, a spokesman for the NATO-led coalition. He did not elaborate on how many coalition forces troops were in the area.
The Afghan army also launched a counter-offensive to retake Kunduz from the Taliban, a day after insurgents overran the strategic northern city.
“Afghan army reinforcements began the operation to recapture Kunduz city at 8:00 am today,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement. “The police headquarters and city prison have been retaken.”
The stunning fall of the provincial capital, which has sent panicked residents fleeing, has dealt a major blow to the country’s NATO-trained security forces and spotlighted the insurgency’s potential to expand beyond its rural strongholds.
Deputy Interior Minister Ayoub Salangi said security forces were ready to retake the city and vowed to investigate how the Taliban managed to seize a major urban centre for the first time in 14 years.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted a triumphant picture on Twitter purportedly showing fighters raising the group’s trademark white flag at a roundabout in the city centre.
Marauding insurgents stormed the local jail, freeing hundreds of prisoners including some Taliban commanders, officials said.
Kunduz was swarming with Taliban fighters racing stolen police vehicles, who officials said overran the governor’s compound and the local police headquarters.
The local headquarters of the National Directorate of Security, the country’s main intelligence agency, was set on fire and a 200-bed government bed was also captured.
Scores of unidentified bodies littered the streets after hours of heavy fighting, said local residents, many of whom were making a hasty exit from Kunduz ─ some by road while others headed to the airport.
