Afghan Forces Recapture Kunduz

Afghan troops supported by U.S.-led coalition airpower recaptured the center of Kunduz today after fierce clashes with the Taliban, three days after losing the provincial capital to the insurgents. Clearing operations are continuing in parts of the city, including house-to-house searches for Talib fighters. The Taliban flag was removed earlier today from the central square, replaced with government colors. Military helicopters are in the sky and government forces are patrolling major streets.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid implicitly conceded defeat, saying the Taliban fighters had withdrawn to the edge of the city. Mujahid added the withdrawal was tactical to draw government forces into the city.

The battle to recapture the strategic town began on Wednesday when Afghan Special Forces with coalition air support entered into the city and retook control of the governor’s office and the police headquarters. News agencies reported heavy fighting in the city center early Thursday before it came under control of Afghan security forces.

Photo credit: Afghan security forces in Kunduz; 1 October 2015 (Wali Kohsar/AP)

U.S. Military Launches Strike on Kunduz

The U.S. military carried out an airstrike on Kunduz today and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed to take the northern city back from the Taliban, who pulled off a spectacular multi-pronged coordinated assault on Kunduz in the wee hours of Monday, capturing the strategically important town.

Afghan military launched a counter-offensive on Kunduz and there are reports today that they have retaken some areas, and reinforcements, including special operations and commandos, are arriving. The U.S. airstrikes against Taliban positions in Kunduz were carried out on Tuesday. U.S. military spokesman Col. Brian Tribus said the goal was “to eliminate threat to the (security) forces.” (AP, 29 September)

The insurgents had still the upper hand in the city on Tuesday, patrolling major streets, setting up checkpoints, searching for government loyalists and sealing off exit routes for anyone who wished to escape, AP reported. They emptied banks in the city of cash and seized vehicles.

Neither the U.S. nor NATO forces have an operational presence in the Kunduz region. German military control a base in the nearby Mazar-e Sharif.

Photo credit: Taliban prisoners walk on a street after their comrades released them from the main jail in Kunduz. Monday 28 September 2015 (Hekmat Aimaq/AP)

Taliban Capture Kunduz in Northern Afghanistan

The Taliban today captured the northern city of Kunduz, Afghanistan’s fifth largest town. The insurgents seized government buildings including the governor’s office, police compound, and the courthouse, despite heavy fighting in a series of battles with government forces. Hundreds of insurgents also broke into a main Kunduz prison and freed more than 600 prisoners, including 140 Taliban fighters. The military said the city’s airport is still under control of the security forces.

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sadiq Sadiqqi told the Associated Press that “Kunduz city has collapsed into the hands of the Taliban.” (AP/FOX News, 28 September)

Sadiqqi added that the Taliban attacked the city from 10 different locations around 3 a.m. local time, overwhelming security forces.  Residents report the insurgents soon reached the town’s main square, tearing down photographs of President Ghani and other leaders and raising the flag of the Taliban movement.

“With capturing of police compound and governor’s office in Kunduz, the whole province fell to our hand,” the Taliban’s spokesman said Monday on his Twitter account.

The capture of the strategically located Kunduz, with a population of more than 300,000, marks the first time the Taliban have seized a major urban area since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. The Taliban previously attacked the same city in April, in its first major advance into an urban area, but were pushed back by security forces. This is a huge loss for Afghanistan.

Kunduz, Afghanistan (Photo: Al Arabiya)
Nader's Note: I visited the city in 2012. 

Iran reportedly assisting Taliban to defeat ISIL in Afghanistan

Above: DIO PKM T-80 machine gun, a type possibly supplied to Taliban from Iran  [photo: MINDEX]

According to International Business Times, dated 12JUN15:

Fears over the rise of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan are spawning some unlikely alliances in the region. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, which cited Afghan and U.S. officials, Iran -- a Shiite powerhouse currently engaged in proxy and direct wars with several Sunni states and groups -- is now providing weapons, ammunition and funds to the Taliban.

“Iran supplies us with whatever we need,” a Taliban commander named Abdullah told the Journal, claiming that he was approached by an Iranian intelligence official during his detention in the country. “He asked me how much money I made, and that he would double my salary if I went to work for them [Iranians] in Afghanistan.”

Abdullah claimed that the Taliban were receiving weapons such as 82mm mortars, light machine guns, AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and materials for making roadside bombs from Iran. These weapons are allegedly shipped into Afghanistan through the common border between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Journal reported. Toward this end, the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan has also helped smugglers, who can now cross the porous border undetected.

Shia-majority Iran and the Sunni militant group Taliban have long been foes and almost came to a full-blown war in 1998 when Iran deployed more than 70,000 troops along the Afghan border in response to the killing of its diplomats. The Iranian officials were allegedly killed by the Taliban, which was then in complete control of the Afghan government. A full-scale conflict in the region was prevented only after the United Nations intervened.

However, recent reports have hinted at the formation of an alliance between the two ideological foes, spurred by the rise of a common enemy in eastern Afghanistan.

COMMENTARY: And so, the military alliances have come full circle. Where, during the1980's the United States supported the Mujahideen (later morphed into Taliban) against USSR, now Iran is reportedly supporting the Taliban against ISIL.

That Iran could put the past behind it and pragmatically assist a former foe to defeat ISIL is potentially instructive, should the reported effort achieve the defeat of ISIL in Afghanistan.

Beyond the immediate, reported support of this force against ISIL, such assistance-- if accurate-- might also serve to provide Iran with a means of influence upon two sides of the current Afgan conflict, that is the Afghan central government (with which Iran has formal relations) as well as the Taliban. In the long run this positioning might potentially render service towards conflict resolution in that enduring war. Of course, such would not be the case were such Iranian arms supplied to the Taliban be turned against the Afghan central government.

Below are additional examples of Iranian arms identified in the report as having been provided to the Taliban:

DIO HM-10H 82 mm infantry mortar  [photo: DIO]

DIO RPG-7 type rocket-propelled grenade launchers  [photo: DIO]

DIO KL-7 (Type 56, AKM) types: top KLS, bottom KLF black  [photo: DIO]

Iran Confirms Talks with Taliban

Esmail Kowsari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, today confirmed that a Taliban delegation had visited Iran last month. The delegation was headed by Tayyeb Agha, who is in charge of the Taliban’s permanent mission to Qatar. Tayyeb Agha is a former secretary to the Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

“They expressed readiness for negotiations and traveled to Tehran for talks,” Iran’s Young Journalist Club (YJC) quoted Kowsari as saying.

“Iran welcomes those who want to resolve the issue via dialogue and negotiate with them to solve the regional problems,” Kowsari added. (YJC/Trend, 7 June)

Earlier, Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham had said the ministry was not informed about the visit.

File photo: A 2001 photo of Tayyeb Agha, seated at center, during a press conference in Spinbaldal, Afghanistan. (The New York Times)

U.S. to Leave 10,800 Troops in Afghanistan

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on a visit to Afghanistan today said the U.S. commanders in the country have been authorized to retain up to 10,800 troops into early in 2015 as a temporary measure to address shortfalls in the fight against the Taliban. The increase of 1,000 in the number of troops being kept in Afghanistan, over the previously scheduled 9,800, could be in response to a gap left by other NATO countries contributing fewer troops to the anti-Taliban campaign than pledged already.

Hagel also praised Afghan President Ghani and CEO Abdullah for forming a government of national unity by “putting needs of the country first.” Hagel made the comments during a joint press conference with Ghani at Arg, the presidential palace in Kabul.

Photo credit: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at a joint press conference at Arg, the presidential palace in Kabul; 6 December 2014 (Twitter/@jimsciutto)

Taliban Frees U.S. Soldier in Exchange for Afghan Detainees

The Taliban released the sole American soldier being held captive on Saturday to a team of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a member of Special Operations forces, spent nearly five years in captivity.

His release was secured after the administration, working through Qatari government intermediaries, agreed to free five Afghan inmates held by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The senior Taliban commanders were loaded onto a U.S. military aircraft bound for Qatar after U.S. officials got confirmation that Bergdahl had been freed.

“He wasn’t forgotten by his country,” President Obama said Saturday evening in the Rose Garden, referring to Bergdahl, and standing alongside his parents. “The United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind.” (The Washington Post, 1 June)

File photo: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan, was freed Saturday in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees at Guantanamo Bay. (Wikipedia photo)

Afghan Elections: Purple Fingers of Defiance

Nearly 60% of eligible voters cast their ballots in today' presidential and municipal elections, despite the repeated threats by the Taliban. Afghans were choosing a successor to Karzai in what will be the first peaceful transition of power in country's history.

Photo credit: Twitter/#Afghanistan

Pakistani Taliban Choose New Leader After Drone Strike Kills Mehsud

The Pakistani Taliban chose Khan Said Sajna as their new leader after its powerful figure Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan. (Khaama Press, 2 November)

Khan Said Sanja’s appointment as the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was made by the Pakistani Taliban Shura (Council) in an undisclosed location on Saturday. All 43 Shura members reportedly voted for him. Said has been involved in a number of high profile terrorist attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on Karachi Naval base. He was reportedly the mastermind of the 2012 jailbreak in city of Bannu where 400 inmates escaped. (Khaama Press)

Hakimullah Mehsud, who was responsible for major terrorist attacks and suicide bombing in the region, including a deadly attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan in 2009, was killed in Dande Darpakhel area of North Waziristan on Friday after he left a meeting.

File photo: Khan Said Sajna, new leader of Pakistani Taliban. (Khaama Press)

Iran Hosts Afghan Taliban Delegation

First Official Visit to Islamic Republic

Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported today that Tehran has hosted an Afghan Taliban delegation. The Taliban had come from Doha, Qatar, where they have recently opened a representative office. Fars said the delegation held talks with Iranian intelligence officials, without disclosing any details. This is the first time that an official Taliban delegation visits the Islamic Republic.

The Associated Press reporting on the visit said it signals Iran could be seeking the role of a regional mediator between the Taliban and Karzai’s government. (AP, 1 June)

File photo: Taliban officials (Press TV)