Taliban militants captured the government headquarters Monday for the northern Afghan city of Kunduz — the first city the U.S. liberated in 2001.
With Kunduz, the Taliban seized its first major city in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led coalition ousted it from power. According to the BBC, when the Islamists entered the city they emptied the city’s jail, setting hundreds of prisoners free.
Kunduz is strategically important as a transport hub, and has a population of around 300,000. The Taliban has been attempting to capture it for months after establishing control over outlying rural areas. (RELATED: Military Expelled Officers For Criticizing Afghans’ Rape Of Boys)
The Afghan government says it is still fighting the Taliban in and around Kunduz, but The New York Times’ report claims that it is being beaten toward the airport and is absent from the city itself.
The siege raises questions about the U.S.-trained Afghan military’s ability to repel a renewed Taliban insurgency, as well as the ability of the U.S., which still runs air operations over the country to assist in the effort.
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