Kabul, Aug 8 (EFE).- Taliban fighters Sunday captured the strategically critical capitals of northern Kunduz and Sar-e-Pol provinces immediately after times of fierce preventing with authorities forces.
The fall of Kunduz and Sar-e-Pol cities is the most important territorial gain by the insurgents since they launched an offensive right after international troops began withdrawing from the place in May possibly.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, in a statement, confirmed the capture, declaring militants seized 1000’s of weapons from the security forces in the two provinces.
Federal lawmaker Nelofar Koofi from the Kunduz province explained to EFE that the Kunduz city fell to the Taliban and “only the airport is in command of the stability forces.”
She reported safety forces have retreated from the metropolis and have collected all around the airport.
The lawmaker said the Taliban blew up a wall of the Kunduz prison and launched all prisoners, which includes jailed insurgents.
The militants took over the Governor House, law enforcement headquarters, and other authorities structures.
The Taliban seize induced the exodus of citizens from the metropolis. But some had been caught within their properties, Koofi mentioned.
The Afghan Military, however, said elite commando forces had begun an anti-Taliban procedure in the metropolis.
The forces recaptured the creating housing the nationwide radio and Tv set of Afghanistan, an army assertion reported.
Taj Muhammad, the military commander in Kunduz in a movie message, claimed that the Taliban suffered large losses in the preventing.
“Their dead bodies are on the streets. They had been striving to capture the key spots, but their prepare acquired defeated.”
Malik, a Kunduz resident, told EFE that the city was in a entire mess and weighty battling was underway.
“A current market of outfits and blankets caught fire,” he mentioned.
Kunduz town retains strategic worth as it connects various northern provinces with the relaxation of the country.
The province also homes a trade port with neighboring Tajikistan.
Taliban briefly captured Kunduz in September 2015. Since then, the insurgents have produced many failed attempts to obtain management of the metropolis.
The Taliban also captured the Sar-e-Pol provincial prison, the latest in their armed forces innovations throughout Afghanistan.
Aziza Jalis, a lawmaker from Sar-e-Pol, advised EFE that protection forces in her province gathered at an military base “in a corner of the metropolis.”
She said the Taliban entered the town in the early morning following nightlong clashes with safety forces.