Taliban seizes Khanabad in Afghanistan's Kunduz

August 20, 2016 17:54

After days of heavy fighting, the Taliban has taken control of another of the five districts in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz, according to provincial authorities.

The fighters seized the district of Khanabad, which connects Kunduz to Takhar and other northern provinces, on Saturday morning, with heavy clashes reported in several other districts.

"The Taliban attacked the district from different positions and we resisted for hours but we received no support. The district fell to the Taliban," said Hayatullah Amiri, the Khanabad chief.

The Taliban has intensified its attacks in Kunduz and also carried out attacks on other key districts in the province in the past weeks.

"The reports that I have by talking to people in Kunduz is that the district fell into the hands of the Taliban without any combat or conflict," Habib Wardak, who campaigns for good governance, told Al Jazeera from Kabul.

"It looks like the capture of the district Khanabad will have severe repercussions on the socio-economic, political and security situation not just in Kunduz but the entire northern part of the country."

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