Al Jazeera: Residents of Afghanistan’s Kunduz recount Taliban takeover
Locals report fear and destruction as the Taliban seizes Afghanistan’s fifth-largest city for the third time in seven years.
Kabul, Afghanistan – Late on Sunday afternoon, the Taliban flew its flag from the main roundabout in the northern city of Kunduz.
It marked the third time in seven years that the armed group had managed to wrest control of what the government had hoped would be a model for all of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
Kunduz is the fifth northern provincial capital to fall to the Taliban in less than a week, and the sixth overall in the country.
The fall of the cities come amid an intensifying Taliban offensive as US and NATO forces complete their final withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Residents speaking to Al Jazeera said the Taliban’s offensive on the eponymous capital began early on Saturday morning and by the next afternoon, the group had officially seized control of Afghanistan’s fifth-largest city.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Aside from some air strikes, it looks like the Afghan security forces fled when the fighting got intense.
