Afghan security forces arrived in Kunduz on Tuesday morning and
have started retaking areas of the city from the Taliban, an Afghan Interior
Ministry spokesman said.
"A big
military operation to clear all Kunduz city is about to start," spokesman
Sediq Sediqqi said.
U.S. forces
joined in the military action, launching an airstrike in Kunduz on Tuesday,
said Brian Tribus, spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The Kunduz
prison, a police compound and the neighborhood of Zir Dawra are among the areas
Afghan forces have secured, Sediqqi said.
A day earlier,
Sediqqi said Kunduz had largely fallen into "the hand of enemies." Kunduz is the largest city to
be overrun by the Taliban since 2001.
Sayed Sarwar
Hussaini, a spokesman for the Kunduz police chief, said Taliban insurgents
seized the main roundabout in the city and made it to the prison, where they
freed more than 500 inmates.
The Taliban also
claimed to have seized a 200-bed hospital -- posting photos to social media
that they claimed proved their control of the facility.
A big prize
The Taliban has bolstered its
strength north of Kunduz for months and has had its eyes on the city.
Kunduz is the capital of Kunduz province, an affluent area known
for its trade ties. The main route to Tajikistan also runs through Kunduz
province.
And the release
of 500 prisoners by the Taliban makes the security situation in Kunduz even
more challenging.
One of the newly
released prisoners spoke to CNN.
"We were
hearing gunshots throughout the day, but it was 4:00 p.m. when the Kunduz
prison guards left the compound. Then, the inmates broke all the doors and
fences and started running towards the main gate," he said.
"As soon as
we opened the main gate, we saw a group of armed Taliban outside the gate. They
told us that we were free and could go home. ... We all headed towards our
homes."
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