Eight Afghan soldiers killed in Taliban attack on Kunduz

KUNDUZ: Eight Afghan soldiers were killed on Tuesday while repelling a fierce Taliban attack on Kunduz, a strategic city in northern Afghanistan that had briefly fallen to the militants twice in the past, officials said.Taliban fighters attacked several government posts on the outskirts of the city at around 1:00am, a defence ministry statement said, triggering heavy fighting.

"With the support of air force their attack was repelled," it said, adding the fighting lasted for several hours.

The defence ministry said 40 Taliban fighters were killed and 50 others wounded in the Kunduz assault.