Taliban targets another North Afghan city after Kunduz

The Taliban in early hours of Sunday morning (local time) attacked Pul-e-Khumri city, capital of northern Baghlan province, a day after they launched a major offensive on the neighbouring Kunduz city, killing at least 10 soldiers and civilians, in a bid to gain control of the city located on a key highway providing easy access to much of northern border provinces.

Sunday's attack started at 1 am (local time), Tolo News reported, adding that "residents who were close to the fighting scene are leaving their homes" to avoid the conflict.

According to sources, the attack started in Band-e-Do and Dewar-e-Madan areas which are close to the centre of the city.

Meanwhile, officials from the Ministry of Interior said that "the Taliban attack is not as it was in Kunduz and the Taliban are hidden in two parts of the city and security forces have surrendered the area."

The Taliban attacked the northeastern city of Kunduz from three directions about 1:30 am (local time) on Saturday as the ninth round of peace talks between the United States and the group came to an end, with negotiators seeking to finalise the American troop withdrawal deal with the other side.

The clashes were ongoing between the Taliban and security forces for several hours.

After the Taliban attack, the acting ministers of Defence and Interior, Assadullah Khalid and Massoud Andarabi, arrived in Kunduz on Saturday evening to lead the clearance operation against the Taliban.

On Sunday morning, the city of Kunduz was cleared of insurgents and the situation went back to normal, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

( With inputs from ANI )