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The Taliban militants on Monday (28 September) captured a major Afghan city after launching a three-pronged attack.
According to reports, Taliban militants swarmed Kunduz -- a city in northern Afghanistan that serves as the capital of the Kunduz Province -- from three sides, with one group successfully breaching the main entrance to the city.
By Monday evening, Taliban militants had captured several government buildings deep inside the city.
Initial reports had claimed that the Afghan militants also took over a 200-bed hospital. However, it was later found that the Taliban had briefly entered the hospital and conducted a search, after which they left the facility.
A Reuters report noted that this was the second time this year that Taliban have besieged Kunduz city.
Eyewitnesses told Reuters that dozens of panicked residents fleeing to the city's main airport were turned away by security forces.
A Kunduz police official Sayed Sarwar Husaini told the BBC that the Taliban freed 500 prisoners after capturing the jail in the city.
In a statement, the Afghan Ministry of Defence said that its security personnel were carrying out counter attacks on the Taliban militants. "Thirty-five of the enemy fighters have been killed," the statement said.
Afghan military helicopters were firing rockets at militants in three areas on the city's outskirts, a police spokesman said.
