KUNDUZ CITY (SW): Mohammad Qasem Jangl Bagh, the police chief in Kunduz province, made a rare apology to the public over the brief fall of the city to the Taliban.
A press note released by the provincial police headquarters on Friday read that the Taliban attack on Kunduz has caused civilian causalities. The press release acknowledged that police forces were not able to protect the citizens. Qasem has stated that Kunduz police did all it could to push the Taliban militants back but they failed to stop insurgents from penetrating into the city.
This press release further read that protecting civilians’ lives constitutes the basic responsibility of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
On 3 October 2016, the Taliban managed multiple assaults on the Kunduz, and took control over the city’s main square for few hours. Days of heavy fighting in the city left a number of civilian dead and many more wounded. According to reports, intense fighting in Kunduz forced hundreds of families to flee the city and take refuge in the neighboring provinces.
This comes while, Jamil Parvani, the deputy police chief for Kunduz 3rd police district, was also killed in a road-side improvised explosive device (IED) attack. This incident took place around 9 am on Thursday night in the northeastern part of the city.
ENDS
