Fighting in Afghanistan: Taliban conquer Kunduz

A total of five provincial capitals have now fallen to the militant Islamist Taliban – now Kunduz too. The Islamists captured important buildings in the city. There used to be a military camp nearby.

The militant Islamist Taliban have taken the provincial capital of Kunduz in the north of the country in Afghanistan. The city fell after fierce fighting, three provincial councilors from the dpa news agency confirmed.

Kunduz has long been besieged by Taliban fighters. In the past two days, the Islamists have intensified their attacks, said the provincial councils. Apart from a military base around three kilometers from the city center and the airport, the Taliban now controlled the entire city. They would have taken over the most important government institutions in Kunduz. The people had neither water nor food and were hiding in their houses.

Bundeswehr stationed in the city for years

In Germany, Kunduz is best known because the Bundeswehr had a large field camp nearby for years. Nowhere in Afghanistan were more Germans killed than in Kunduz and the neighboring province of Baghlan. In the previous year, around 100 German soldiers were stationed in “Camp Pamir”. Provincial Councilor Amruddin Wali said that security forces and government officials have now withdrawn to this very military base near the airport, which is now home to the 217th Afghan Army Corps.

On the phone, resident Schekib Salarsai described the situation to the dpa as “total chaos”. He is one of 370,000 people who feel at home in the big city. “The government people have fled,” he said. The Taliban released prisoners from prison and the streets were closed. “Nobody can bring the injured to the hospitals.” The city is on fire in different parts.

The loss of Kunduz weighs heavily on the Afghan government. The city is an important trading center near the border with neighboring Tajikistan. It was briefly captured by the Taliban in 2015 and 2016. Both times the Islamists were pushed back with US air strikes.

Captured two more provincial capitals

In addition, the Taliban captured two other provincial capitals in northern Afghanistan. The extremists overran Talokan, the capital of Tachar province in the north of the country, said two MPs from the region. After a four-week siege, the Taliban had already brought parts of the city under their control.

According to the provincial councils, Sar-i Pul in the province of the same name also fell to the Islamists. Accordingly, the Taliban also have the most important government buildings there under their control. All government representatives had withdrawn to a military base around one kilometer from the center of the city with around 180,000 inhabitants, which was besieged. The Taliban fired mortar shells at the base.

According to Provincial Councilor Massuma Schadab, there are several bodies in the streets. But nobody dares to rescue them. The province, in which oil deposits are extracted, borders, among other things, in the east on the provinces of Balkh with the capital Mazar-i-Sharif and in the north on the province of Jausdzhan. The government only holds the Balchab district in the province, the provincial councils said

On Friday, the small provincial capital Saranj in Nimrus on the Iranian border fell to the Taliban practically without a fight. The city of Schiberghan in Jausdschan in the north followed on Saturday. Thus, within three days, five provincial capitals in the country were overrun by the Taliban.

Federal Foreign Office: deterioration in the security situation

In view of the developments in Afghanistan, the Federal Foreign Office sees an increasing deterioration in the security situation in the country. A ministry spokesman told the dpa news agency that the situation was developing rapidly. The so-called asylum situation report had already been updated in the past if this was necessary. “An update of the asylum situation report is currently being prepared with a view to current developments.”

The German government recently made it clear that it is currently out of the question of a general ban on deportation for people from Afghanistan. The current asylum situation report by the Federal Foreign Office states that certain groups are at greater risk from the advance of the Taliban, but no general risk to returnees. However, it shows the status of last May – shortly before the start of the withdrawal of foreign troops.

Strong territorial gains

Since then, the Taliban have made massive territorial gains in several offensives. They now control more than half of the approximately 400 districts in the country and also several border crossings. Most recently, the fighting has increasingly shifted to the capitals of the 34 provinces.

The US military mission in Afghanistan ends on August 31. According to the US, the withdrawal is more than 95 percent complete. According to the Afghan Ministry of Defense, the US is still flying air strikes in the country. A Taliban meeting in the city of Schiberghan was attacked with B-52 bombers, a spokesman said on Twitter.