Officials Concerned Over Drawn Out War In Kunduz

A number of Kunduz provincial council members said Tuesday they are conceed that the war in the province could carry on indefinitely if govement does not pay serious attention to the matter.

"We call on govement to pay attention to Kunduz. It has not paid the required attention to the province so far. People are very conceed about this," said Kunduz provincial council member, Toryalai Kakar.

"It is three days now that the province [Kunduz] is being attacked from four sides. They [militants] wanted to take control of [parts of] the province once again, but the security forces prevented them," said Amruddin Wali, another member of the council.

Meanwhile, security forces in Kunduz said insurgents have taken to hiding inside people's houses which has hindered efforts by troops to eliminate insurgents for fear of harming civilians.

"The security forces including commando troops have come here to Kunduz and some of them are busy in military operations in parts of the province," said Khiyal Nabi Ahmadzai, an army commander in Kunduz.

He added: "Other troops meanwhile are ready to take orders from their commanders. They [security forces] will eliminate insurgents if they try to attack them."

Kunduz police chief Mohammad Qaseem Jangabagh meanwhile said the Taliban has sustained heavy losses in clashes with Afghan security forces.

According to him, at least 67 Taliban fighters were killed and 50 others wounded over the past 24 hours in Kunduz.

To watch the report, click here:

{youtube}qxMvDb4tidg{/youtube}