KUNDUZ, Afghanistan: Fear stalked Kunduz Thursday as residents prepared for a lengthy siege, with government forces patrolling the streets and Taliban insurgents surrounding the northern Afghan city.
The Taliban have held the city twice in recent years — both times briefly — but have now captured the surrounding districts and the main border crossing with Tajikistan.
“The Taliban have besieged our city,” said Qudratullah, a fruit seller who has done hardly any business since fighting first erupted in Kunduz province two weeks ago.
“Even today there is sporadic fighting on the outskirts of the city,” said Qudratullah, who like many Afghans uses only one name.
“If the government does not launch an operation against the Taliban, their siege will continue for a long time.”
Most businesses in Kunduz remained shut and vehicles stayed off the roads, an AFP correspondent who toured the city reported.
Dozens of military vehicles patrolled the streets as new government forces were deployed in the city of around 300,000, swelled by an influx of rural residents fleeing fighting in the districts.
Troops were seen firing sporadically at Taliban positions, and the bodies of two insurgents lay on the ground on the eastern edge of Kunduz.
The city’s public health director told AFP that since the fighting erupted a week ago, 21 civilians have been killed and 225 wounded.
Residents said they were suffering from water and power cuts, and few shops were open.
Kunduz resident Hasib said he feared the Taliban would soon launch a major offensive on the city.
“We don’t feel safe... We have seen the Taliban capture the city twice before, and we do not want the city to fall again to them,” he said.
“The government forces should break the Taliban siege, if not the Taliban will continue their offensives... and their siege will continue forever.”
Fighting has raged across Kunduz province for days, with the Taliban and Afghan forces engaged in bloody battles.
On Tuesday the insurgents captured Shir Khan Bandar, Afghanistan’s main border crossing with Tajikistan, in one of their most significant gains in recent months.
On Thursday, Afghan authorities attempted to put on a brave front, with Interior Minister Abdul Satar Mirzakwal flying in for a brief visit.
“Saving and protecting Kunduz is among our top priorities,” he said in a video message released to reporters.
“We are taking serious measures and will provide more weapons and technical equipment to Afghan forces in all provinces.”
Since early May, the Taliban have launched several major offensives targeting government forces across the rugged countryside and say they have seized at least 87 of the country’s more than 400 districts.
Many of their claims are disputed by the government and difficult to independently verify.
Violence surged after the US military began the withdrawal of its last remaining 2,500 troops from the country to meet the September 11 deadline announced by President Joe Biden to end America’s longest war.
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Fear stalks northern Afghan city as Taliban lay siege
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Fear stalks northern Afghan city as Taliban lay siege
- The Taliban have held Kunduz twice in recent years — both times briefly — but have now captured the surrounding districts and the main border crossing with Tajikistan
- Violence surged after the US military began the withdrawal of its last remaining 2,500 troops from the country to meet a September 11 deadline
Australia Day protesters demand Indigenous rights
SYDNEY: Thousands of people rallied in cities across Australia demanding justice and rights for Indigenous peoples on Monday, a national holiday marking the 1788 arrival of a British fleet in Sydney Harbor.
Crowds took to the streets in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth and other cities on Australia Day, many with banners proclaiming: “Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.”
In Sydney, police allowed the protests to go ahead despite new curbs introduced after gunmen opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah festival on Bondi Beach on December 14, killing 15 people.
Millions of Australians celebrate the annual holiday with beers and backyard barbecues or a day by the sea, and this year a broad heatwave was forecast to push the temperature in South Australian capital Adelaide to 45C.
Shark sightings forced people out of the water at several beaches in and around Sydney, however, after a string of shark attacks in the region this month — including one that led to the death of a 12-year-old boy.
Many activists describe the January 26, 1788, British landing as “Invasion Day,” a moment that ushered in a period of oppression, lost lands, massacres and Indigenous children being removed from their families.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make up about four percent of the population.
They still have a life expectancy eight years shorter than other Australians, higher rates of incarceration and deaths in custody, steeper youth unemployment and poorer education.
- Anti-immigration protests -
“Let’s celebrate on another day, because everyone loves this country and everyone wants to celebrate. But we don’t celebrate on a mourning day,” Indigenous man Kody Bardy, 44, told AFP in Sydney.
Another Indigenous protester in Sydney, 23-year-old Reeyah Dinah Lotoanie, called for people to recognize that a genocide happened in Australia.
“Ships still came to Sydney and decided to kill so many of our people,” she said.
Separately, thousands of people joined anti-immigration “March for Australia” protests in several cities, with police in Melbourne mobilizing to keep the two demonstrations apart.
In Sydney, “March for Australia” protesters chanted, “Send them back.” Some carried banners reading: “Stop importing terrorists” or “One flag, one country, one people.”
“There’s nowhere for people to live now, the hospitals are full, the roads are full, you’ve got people living on the streets,” said one demonstrator, 66-year-old Rick Conners.
Several also held aloft placards calling for the release of high-profile neo-Nazi Joel Davis, who is in custody after being arrested in November on allegations of threatening a federal lawmaker.
“There will be no tolerance for violence or hate speech on Sydney streets,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters.
“We live in a beautiful, multicultural community with people from around the world, but we will not tolerate a situation where on Australia’s national day, it’s being pulled down by divisive language, hate speech or racism,” he said.
“Police are ready and willing to engage with people that breach those rules.”
Crowds took to the streets in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth and other cities on Australia Day, many with banners proclaiming: “Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.”
In Sydney, police allowed the protests to go ahead despite new curbs introduced after gunmen opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah festival on Bondi Beach on December 14, killing 15 people.
Millions of Australians celebrate the annual holiday with beers and backyard barbecues or a day by the sea, and this year a broad heatwave was forecast to push the temperature in South Australian capital Adelaide to 45C.
Shark sightings forced people out of the water at several beaches in and around Sydney, however, after a string of shark attacks in the region this month — including one that led to the death of a 12-year-old boy.
Many activists describe the January 26, 1788, British landing as “Invasion Day,” a moment that ushered in a period of oppression, lost lands, massacres and Indigenous children being removed from their families.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make up about four percent of the population.
They still have a life expectancy eight years shorter than other Australians, higher rates of incarceration and deaths in custody, steeper youth unemployment and poorer education.
- Anti-immigration protests -
“Let’s celebrate on another day, because everyone loves this country and everyone wants to celebrate. But we don’t celebrate on a mourning day,” Indigenous man Kody Bardy, 44, told AFP in Sydney.
Another Indigenous protester in Sydney, 23-year-old Reeyah Dinah Lotoanie, called for people to recognize that a genocide happened in Australia.
“Ships still came to Sydney and decided to kill so many of our people,” she said.
Separately, thousands of people joined anti-immigration “March for Australia” protests in several cities, with police in Melbourne mobilizing to keep the two demonstrations apart.
In Sydney, “March for Australia” protesters chanted, “Send them back.” Some carried banners reading: “Stop importing terrorists” or “One flag, one country, one people.”
“There’s nowhere for people to live now, the hospitals are full, the roads are full, you’ve got people living on the streets,” said one demonstrator, 66-year-old Rick Conners.
Several also held aloft placards calling for the release of high-profile neo-Nazi Joel Davis, who is in custody after being arrested in November on allegations of threatening a federal lawmaker.
“There will be no tolerance for violence or hate speech on Sydney streets,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters.
“We live in a beautiful, multicultural community with people from around the world, but we will not tolerate a situation where on Australia’s national day, it’s being pulled down by divisive language, hate speech or racism,” he said.
“Police are ready and willing to engage with people that breach those rules.”
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