Taliban starts a major attack on northern Afghan city of Kunduz

Taliban fighters mounted a coordinated assault on the northern city of Kunduz overnight, attacking from four directions and entering urban areas and threatening a repeat of the operation in which they seized the city exactly a year ago.

Sheer Ali Kamawal, commander of the 808 Tandar police zone in Kunduz, said the attack began at around midnight (1930 GMT Sunday) and fighting was still going on in and around the city. Some Taliban fighters had entrenched themselves in residents’ houses.

Military helicopters flew overhead and gunfire could be heard in Kunduz, where Afghan troops backed by American air strikes and special forces were fighting a year ago to the day to drive out insurgents who had raised the Taliban flag in the city centre.