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U.S. Strikes Taliban-Held Land Near Kunduz Airport as Afghan Crisis Deepens U.S. Strikes Taliban-Held Land Near Kunduz Airport as Afghan Crisis Deepens
(about 4 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — American warplanes bombarded Taliban-held territory around the Kunduz airport overnight, and Afghan officials said American Special Forces were rushed toward the fighting. But by Wednesday morning, the crisis in northern Afghanistan had deepened, as the Taliban continued to surge outward from Kunduz, the major city that the militants captured on Monday. KABUL, Afghanistan — The most immediate test facing the government of Afghanistan is not so much whether it can quickly mount a counterattack and retake Kunduz, the northern city that fell to the Taliban on Monday, but whether it can prevent a nearby city from falling as well.
The militants claimed critical stretches of highway and continued to threaten the area around the airport, where hundreds of Afghan soldiers and civilians have been holed up since the city fell. The government’s inaction in the face of the loss of Kunduz has prompted a crisis of confidence in the neighboring province of Baghlan, where wealthier citizens and those with government connections have begun to leave for the relative safety of their hometowns.
Over the past three days, the Taliban have achieved what appears to be their largest military victory in a war that has gone on for more than a decade. Not only have insurgent forces captured a city of about 300,000 — the first urban center the Taliban has held since 2001 — but as the Afghan government struggles to respond, it has become clear that not only Kunduz but also a large chunk of Afghanistan’s north is at stake. The American-backed government in Kabul is facing one of its gravest moments, amid concerns that government security forces in the north are struggling to stand up to far less numerous Taliban forces.
In Baghlan Province, south of Kunduz, Afghan reinforcements on their way to the city have been delayed or stopped altogether amid Taliban ambushes along the main highway. It appeared on Wednesday that before the Afghan government could launch a significant counteroffensive in Kunduz, it would first need to reclaim some of Baghlan. Military leaders spoke of launching a decisive counterattack against the Taliban in Kunduz on Wednesday night, but it was becoming clear that most of the reinforcements for such an attack had been waylaid in Baghlan.
Reinforcements in large numbers “will not be able to reach Kunduz without a big fight,” said Ted Callahan, a Western security adviser based in northeastern Afghanistan. The reinforcements “will not be able to reach Kunduz without a big fight,” said Ted Callahan, a Western security adviser based in northeastern Afghanistan.
Abdul Shaker Urfani, a member of a community council in a northern part of Baghlan, said that more than 1,000 Afghan soldiers and police officers were stuck in the province. They were trying to reach Kunduz, “but they can’t break the Taliban resistance,” Mr. Urfani said. The Taliban have proven in the last few days just how tight a grip they hold on a stretch of northern Baghlan that abuts Kunduz Province. Reinforcements coming from either Kabul or the government stronghold in Mazar-i-Sharif must pass through the area to reach Kunduz city, and a number of convoys have been ambushed there.
Soon after Kunduz fell, Afghan military officials spoke of an imminent counterattack, using the airport five miles south of the city as a staging ground. But it has since become clear that the airport itself is imperiled, caught between the Taliban forces in Kunduz and the insurgents controlling the countryside in every other direction. It was not clear on Wednesday whether the front line in the north was still in Kunduz or was rapidly shifting south into Baghlan. That, at least, was how residents of Baghlan’s provincial capital, Pul-i-Kumri, were feeling.
By Tuesday night, Taliban forces pressing south from Kunduz had pushed through the perimeter of the airport compound, threatening several hundred soldiers and at least as many civilians who had fled to the airport from the city. In fighting on Tuesday night, at least 17 members of the Afghan National Civil Order Police were wounded and one was killed defending the area around the airport. “It is true, people are evacuating the city today,” Zabihullah Rustami, a former member of the provincial council, said by telephone. He had done so himself, he said, relocating to his rural district to the east. “People who are enemies of the Taliban are leaving,” he said, and the city was rife with “rumors that the Taliban might attack and take over the city.”
The situation for the Afghan forces improved somewhat toward midnight: American warplanes conducted airstrikes at 11:30 p.m. and again at 1 a.m. on Taliban positions near the airport, an American military spokesman said. The Afghan Air Force also fired weapons. Pul-i-Kumri, about 90 miles north of Kabul, could become the next flashpoint if the Taliban’s momentum in the north is not checked in the next few days.
Around the same time, soldiers with the American Special Forces headed out toward the city with Afghan commandos, according to Afghan government officials. Whether the Americans were there to take Taliban positions or to call in airstrikes was not known. By morning, the American forces appeared to have returned to the airport, according to people there who spoke by telephone. Taliban fighters have been creeping up to the city’s outskirts over the last six months. Gun and mortar fire are frequently heard, and skirmishes have become regular occurrences on three sides of the city.
“In Pul-i-Kumri, the situation is not in the favor of the government,” Mr. Rustami said. “If any Taliban come out and shout ‘Allahu Akbar,’ the city will fall. The Taliban are close to the city.”
Mr. Callahan, the security adviser, said he expected government forces to put up more of a fight there than they did in Kunduz. One reason was that the national police force in the area was staffed mainly with local Tajiks, who were viewed as unlikely to fold before the Taliban.
“I think you’ll see much more resistance” from the police and pro-government militias, Mr. Callahan said. “Mind you, Baghlan is big, and most of the security forces are drawn from the eastern parts of the province, so there is a big pool of potential reinforcements.”
Even so, he said, a strong defense could not be taken for granted, because if panic took root in Pul-i-Kumri, a Taliban victory could be “a self-fulfilling prophecy:” a small Taliban force could sow enough fear “to more or less walk in” as security forces retreated.
“It would be the same movie we’ve seen in Kunduz,” Mr. Callahan said.
The Taliban’s resurgence in Baghlan over the past two years is a complicated story of ethnic rivalry and local politics as much as ideology. Baghlan’s sprawling and populous northern district, known as Baghlani Jadid, is largely Pashtun, Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group — from which the Taliban traditionally draws its members.
Pashtuns live in settlements across the north, but they are outnumbered in the region by Afghanistan’s second largest group, the Tajiks. In Baghlan, many Pashtuns have felt left out of the provincial power structure, especially after a leading Pashtun candidate failed to win the provincial council chairmanship in last year’s election. Since then, Pashtun support for the government appears to have waned in northern Baghlan and insecurity has been rising, most visibly along the national highway; the stretch through Baghlan has grown increasingly risky.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, convoys of reinforcements headed toward Kunduz were fighting pitched battles with the Taliban in two areas, according to Abdul Shaker Urfani, a member of a community council in northern Baghlan.
By his count, more than 1,000 Afghan soldiers and police officers bound for Kunduz were stuck in the province on Wednesday. “They can’t break through the Taliban resistance,” Mr. Urfani said.
Mr. Callahan said that the fighting in Baghlan was “a second front right now,” but disparate groups of insurgents were starting to “coordinate and cohere in a way we haven’t before.”
The capture of Kunduz, a city of 300,000 people, three days ago appeared to be the Taliban’s largest military victory in a war that has gone on for more than a decade. Kunduz is the first urban center the Taliban have held since 2001.
Soon after it fell, Afghan military officials spoke of using the city’s airport, five miles to the south, as a staging ground for a swift counterattack. Now, though, the airport is imperiled as well, caught between Taliban forces approaching from Kunduz and the insurgent-controlled countryside in every other direction.
By Tuesday night, Taliban fighters had pushed through the airport perimeter, threatening several hundred soldiers and at least as many civilians who had fled to the airport from the city. One police officer was killed and at least 17 were wounded defending the area, officials said.
Their situation improved somewhat when American warplanes struck Taliban positions at 11:30 p.m. and again at 1 a.m., an American military spokesman said. The Afghan Air Force also fired weapons.
Around the same time, American Special Forces soldiers and Afghan commandos left the airport headed for Kunduz, according to Afghan government officials. Whether the Americans were there to take Taliban positions or to call in airstrikes was not known. By morning, the Americans appeared to have returned, according to people there who spoke by telephone.
An American military spokesman refused to discuss the matter.An American military spokesman refused to discuss the matter.
But it appears that at least one American operation in the city of Kunduz failed. An Afghan security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that American forces had sought to resupply a group of beleaguered Afghan soldiers trapped in an ancient fortress north of the city. It appeared that at least one American operation in the city ended in failure. An Afghan security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that a group of 100 or more Afghan soldiers, trapped in an ancient fortress north of the city, had held the Taliban off for more than two days. But when American forces tried to air-drop ammunition and weapons to them, the official said, “they missed the base and dropped the weapons in the river.” It was not clear whether the weapons actually landed in the water of the nearby Kalagaw River or had merely missed the defenders’ position by a long distance.
For more than two days, the soldiers, at least 100 of them, had been fending off the encroaching Taliban. But American efforts to airdrop ammunition and weapons had apparently failed, the Afghan official said. That position fell Wednesday morning, and about 60 soldiers surrendered or were captured by the Taliban, although at least a few dozen managed to escape, the official said.
“They missed the base and dropped the weapons in the river,” the official said, although it was not clear whether the weapons actually landed in the nearby Kalagaw River or simply missed the position by a long distance. Questions about how thousands of army, police and militia defenders could continue to fare so poorly against a Taliban force that most local and military officials put only in the hundreds were hanging over President Ashraf Ghani’s government and its American allies.
By noon on Wednesday, the fortress had fallen and about 60 soldiers had surrendered or been captured by the Taliban, although at least a few dozen managed to escape, the official said. The government forces and militiamen defending Kunduz Province were said to number more than 7,000 when the city fell. Some fell back to the airport, some fled to their homes, and some are unaccounted for.
Questions about how thousands of army, police and militia defenders could continue to fare so poorly against a Taliban force that most local and military officials put in the hundreds hung over President Ashraf Ghani’s government and its American allies. Military officials in Kabul continued to promise an imminent counterattack, but an Afghan security official in Kabul who insisted on anonymity to discuss security matters said he was not aware that enough troops were in position to mount one.
The number of Afghan government forces and militiamen defending Kunduz Province was said to be more than 7,000 when the city fell. Some fled to their homes, others retreated to the airport and still others are unaccounted for. “There is no counterattack,” he said, “not now, at least.”