Taliban fighter talks with residents at the main square, a day after insurgents took control of the strategic northern city of Kunduz September 29, 2015
Special forces from the U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan battled insurgents on Wednesday near the northern city of Kunduz that was captured by the Taliban this week, a coalition spokesman and Afghan official said.
It was the first report of on-the-ground clashes between Taliban militants and foreign troops supporting their Afghan allies during three days of sometimes heavy fighting for control of the strategic city of 300,000.
Kunduz is the first provincial capital to fall to the Taliban since the hardline Islamist movement was toppled from power in 2001.
The swift re-taking of the city promised by President Ashraf Ghani has failed to materialize, as Taliban fighters dig into positions around the city and mine roads to prevent reinforcements from reaching weary Afghan forces.
In a major setback, nearly 200 Afghan security personnel abandoned Bala Hissar hill, a key outpost in Kunduz that overlooks the city's main roads, after running out of ammunition and food supplies, said an Afghan security official.
Troops fled the strategic position in pick-up trucks and Humvees. Dozens headed for shelter at Kunduz airport, where thousands of police and soldiers have already retreated in the last two days of fighting.
To the south, in neighboring Baghlan province, a group of 800 Afghan troops on its way to reinforce Kunduz repelled a Taliban ambush and was waiting for bomb squads to clear the road into the city, said Afghan army officer Sayed Ahmad Mujahid.
They had only advanced about one kilometer during the day, he added.
"THEY DEFENDED THEMSELVES"
At least three U.S. air strikes have also targeted Taliban positions near the city.
Coalition spokesman Col. Brian Tribus gave few details about the foreign troops' engagement with insurgents while supporting Afghan forces overnight, including the troops' nationalities.
"Coalition special forces advisers, while advising and assisting elements of the Afghan Security Forces, encountered an insurgent threat in the vicinity of the Kunduz airport at approximately 1 a.m., 30 September," Tribus said.
He confirmed special forces fought the insurgents, but added: "This was done out of self-defense. When they encountered the threat, they defended themselves."
A senior Afghan security official said about 100 members of U.S. special forces fought off Taliban attackers threatening to breach the airport in the early hours of Wednesday.
The heavily armed troops, wearing night-vision goggles, left the airport and killed the assailants before returning, added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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"They are in a non-combat role. That said, they also maintain the right to defend," Tribus said of the coalition forces.
NATO had more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan at its peak, but most had withdrawn by the end of 2014 and the far smaller mission now is designed to "train, assist and advise" local forces.
ANGER MOUNTS IN KABUL
In Kabul, Afghan lawmakers called on Ghani to resign over his government's "shameful" handling of the battle, the latest blow to the leader whose first year in office has been marred by political infighting and escalating violence.
"It is shameful how they (the government) have dealt with the situation in Kunduz," said Iqbal Safi, a member of parliament from Kapisa province, during a televised session of parliament.
"Ghani and Abdullah must step down," he added, referring to Ghani's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
Sayed Zafar Hashemi, Ghani's deputy spokesman, said it was parliamentarians' right to protest.
"For the president, the first priorities are the safety of the citizens in Kunduz and clearing the area of terrorists."
Despite assurances by the Afghan government that progress was being made in Kunduz, the lack of reinforcements and the Taliban's aggressive tactics point to a potentially long and bloody fight.
Wahidullah Maya, a spokesman for the Public Health Ministry, said on Twitter that 30 people had been killed and more than 200 injured in Kunduz fighting.
"Around 90 percent of them are civilians," he said.
Many civilians fled during the surprise attack early on Monday, but thousands remain trapped.
Sourced from reuters.
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