Taliban fighters entered the northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Monday, almost exactly a year after they briefly seized it in their biggest success of the 15-year war, while heavy fighting in the south underscored the country's deteriorating security.
Sheer Ali Kamawal, commander of the 808 Tandar police zone in Kunduz, said the attack began at around midnight (3.30 p.m. ET Sunday) and fighting was going on in and around the city. Some Taliban fighters had entrenched themselves in homes.
The fighters appear to have slipped through a defensive security line set up around Kunduz, entering the city itself from four directions before clashes broke out, witnesses in the city said.
Strategypage has more on this attack and related issues. Apparently the Taliban bribed or threatened their way through checkpoints to infiltrate the city defenses.
Afghan forces will no doubt counter-attack and defeat this much smaller effort than last year's briefly successful Taliban assault that cost the Taliban heavy casualties.
