KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Hundreds of Taliban fighters launched an early morning attack Monday on a strategic northern city, storming it from several directions, Afghan officials said.
Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, spokesman for the provincial police chief of Kunduz, said the attack on the city of Kunduz started about 3 a.m. Battles with government forces were still underway in at least four locations, he said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on his Twitter account, saying the Taliban were entering hospitals around the city hunting for wounded government troops. He advised residents to remain indoors.
Abdul Wadood Wahidi, spokesman for the governor of Kunduz province, said no government buildings, including hospitals, had been overtaken by the insurgents. When the attack started, he said, insurgents had overrun “two local police check points outside the city but have been pushed back from both.”
He said three police officers had been wounded, and “more than 20 bodies of Taliban fighters are on the battlefield.”