Coalition forces join Afghan army in attempt to regain Kunduz

Soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan joined the fight today to retake Kunduz from the Taliban.

According to The Washington Post, the troops are from a special forces unit. Under rules governing the continued coalition presence in Afghanistan, soldiers are allowed to engage in active fighting if they are threatened by insurgents. Overnight, U.S. airstrikes set the stage for today’s ground offensive, hitting key Taliban positions.

After fourteen years of subterranean seething, the Taliban has resurfaced with a vengeance, capturing Kunduz, one of Afghanistan’s wealthiest and most strategic cities, on Monday. The insurgents stormed the city in a multi-pronged assault, torching government buildings and hoisting Taliban white flags in a signal of victory.

Today, the Afghan security fortress Bala Hissar fell to the Taliban, according to Kunduz lawmaker Malim Chari. The refuge dates back to the reign of Persian king Cyrus the Great, when the region was part of the Achaemenid Empire.

Tuesday, on his one-year anniversary in office, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told the nation to trust its army’s ability to beat back the burgeoning insurgency.

“Reinforcements, including special forces and commandos are either [in Kunduz] or on the way,” he assured. But Afghan ground troops, stalled by roadblocks and a Taliban ambush, never moved closer than 1 mile toward their target.

The same day, the United States launched a single airstrike on the city “to eliminate a threat to the force,” U.S. military spokesman Col. Brian Tribus said. Before last night’s bombing, coalition officials downplayed the likelihood of a broader air campaign because “all the Taliban are inside the city and so are all the people,” said a NATO officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Both Afghan and Taliban troops are locked in what likely will be a protracted, bitter struggle.

According to a BBC report, the Afghan Health Ministry estimates more than 200 Kunduz residents are hospitalized with severe gunshot wounds. At least 16 have died since Monday.

The United Nations evacuated all international staff within hours of the takeover, and most NGOs, including the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, airlifted workers from the city by late Monday. Kunduz residents swarmed the airport in an effort to escape, but insurgent gunmen swiftly sealed off exit routes, set up checkpoints, and patrolled the streets. As of now, the airport remains free from rebel control.

Taliban gunmen used city mosque loudspeakers to assure Kunduz residents they had no cause for panic. The fighters said the livelihoods of local doctors, teachers, and civil workers would be safe.

A handful of locals made a show of welcoming the insurgents, posing for selfies and videos with gunmen. The New York Times linked to one video in which a Taliban fighter voices plans for the city.

“We want to say that we want to serve here and people should cooperate with us,” he said, according to a translation by Ahmad Shuja of Human Rights Watch in Kabul. “We want to implement Shariah. It is our wish to build madrasas, schools, pavements, and roads.”

But the Taliban’s history of brutality during its rule of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001 is not soon forgotten.

“Kunduz is a ghost city now, fear has locked people inside their homes,” said Folad Hamdad, a local freelance journalist who fled to neighboring Takhar province. According to Hamdad, Taliban gunmen were painstakingly searching door-to-door “for government officials, local police commanders, anyone they can think of. No one is safe.”

With the capture of Kunduz, the Taliban achieves a “huge political and propaganda victory,” said security analyst Ali Mohammad Ali. The takeover also highlights the Taliban’s uncanny resilience. After a failed attempt to seize Kunduz in April, the group bolstered its campaign across the north by adding allies to boost its numbers and fire power. Officials say the group is now linked with insurgents such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Pakistani militants driven from border hideouts.

Millions of Afghan Muslims recently celebrated Eid, the biggest Muslim holiday of the year, by traveling around the country to visit family. Afghan officials believe Taliban fighters took advantage of the mass transit to covertly infiltrate Kunduz.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.