the city, said many people were still too afraid to leave their houses. “The Taliban who knew Kunduz left the city already, but many foreign fighters could not flee and are hiding in people’s homes in some parts of the city centre and are still resisting,” Sahil said on Friday.
Hamdullah Danishi, acting governor of the Kunduz province, described the capital as calm, and said there was “no major fighting”. He acknowledged, however, that the insurgents had not been completely driven from Kunduz. “Taliban are still in civilian houses and buildings,” Danishi said. “They are using civilians as human shields.” The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was increasingly concerned about the welfare of citizens inside the city and the lack of medical supplies and personnel.
“We are very short-staffed in the hospitals,” said Peter Esmith Ewoi, an ICRC doctor working in the city. “The medical staff in the city cannot get to the hospitals because of the ongoing fighting.” The ICRC said it has emergency medical supplies ready to be flown in as soon as security at the Kunduz airport improves.
In a worrying sign for government forces struggling to contain a growing militant threat, the Taliban made territorial gains elsewhere in the country, although on a smaller scale than the brief seizure of Kunduz. “Our forces did not get reinforcements on time,” Forotan said of the loss of Warduj district in Badakhshan. “Taliban were in big numbers, therefore our forces retreated.”
The Taliban said they killed 50 soldiers and gained control of 28 checkposts in a district of Badakhshan province that has been fought over for years. It occupies a position along a highway to the border with Tajikistan and also shares a border with China and Pakistan. The attack started when Taliban militants raided checkpoints in several villages, overrunning reinforcements and seizing control late in the afternoon, according to a government report. The police headquarters in Warduj fell at around 6:00pm, it said. At least two policemen were killed in the battle, while three others were reported missing.