Taliban tighten hold on Afghan city despite US airstrikes

[pakistani342]

It seems there are a lot of conflicting stories coming out of Kunduz. This one is just hot of the press and from a credible publication Boston Herald.

One would have thought the the Taliban would have retreated by now?

Article here, excerpts below:

KABUL, Afghanistan — A day after a strategic northern city fell to the Taliban, the insurgents fanned out in full force Tuesday, closing roads, throwing up checkpoints and torching government buildings as fearful residents huddled indoors amid signs a promised Afghan counteroffensive was faltering.

U.S. warplanes carried out two airstrikes on Taliban positions, but government ground troops sent to try to retake Kunduz, one of Afghanistan's wealthiest cities, were stalled by roadblocks and ambushes, unable to move closer than about a mile (two kilometers) toward their target.

A NATO officer said more airstrikes were unlikely as "all the Taliban are inside the city and so are all the people." He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media on the issue.

...

Inside the city, residents were stunned by the audacity of the insurgents, who attacked Kunduz on a number of fronts before dawn on Monday, taking the government, intelligence agency and military by surprise.

...

"Kunduz is a ghost city now, fear has locked people inside their homes," said Folad Hamdad, a local freelance journalist who escaped late Monday to neighboring Takhar province.

He said Taliban gunmen were going door to door "searching for government officials, local police commanders, anyone they can think of. No one is safe."

...

"Yesterday it was possible for people to get out of the city, but today it is too late because all roads are under the Taliban control," said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

 

[Indus Falcon]

Buddy the most important thing in an Army is discipline, remove that and you have nothing. ANA ......................?

 

[pakistani342]

Buddy the most important thing in an Army is discipline, remove that and you have nothing. ANA ......................?

I think part of the problem seems to be the Taliban have lodged themselves amongst the civilians -- making the use of heavy weaponry difficult.

 

[Whazzup]

I think part of the problem seems to be the Taliban have lodged themselves amongst the civilians -- making the use of heavy weaponry difficult.

Whatever it may be , Taliban will not be able to hold the city against large-scale ANA formation but they already did a lot of damage to the reputation of Afghan govt and ANA.

P.S Acc to Afghans reinforcements are en route to Kunduz but small ambushes and IED are delaying them.

 

[pakistani342]

Whatever it may be , Taliban will not be able to hold the city against large-scale ANA formation but they already did a lot of damage to the reputation of Afghan govt and ANA.

P.S Acc to Afghans reinforcements are en route to Kunduz but small ambushes and IED are delaying them.

yes I think that is the agreement that it is highly unlikely that the Taliban would be able to hold the city for anything but a short amount of time.

 

[Rasengan]

The Taliban are extremely clever because they have found the solution to neutralize airstrikes and artillery bombardment on their positions, by mixing in with the crowd. The Vietnamese used a similar tactic during the 70s.

 

[That Guy]

Whatever it may be , Taliban will not be able to hold the city against large-scale ANA formation but they already did a lot of damage to the reputation of Afghan govt and ANA.

P.S Acc to Afghans reinforcements are en route to Kunduz but small ambushes and IED are delaying them.

This attack was never about taking the city, it was to target the local governor and free prisoners. It just so happened that the ANSF abandoned it's position against a numerically inferior force (sound familiar?), and the taliban took advantage of the situation.

The city should have never fallen in the first place, and it is a complete and utter disaster for the ANA. The US may end up sending in small amounts special forces units to assist in taking the city back, because the ANA seem to be incapable of doing so quickly and efficiently.

The Taliban are extremely clever because they have found the solution to neutralize airstrikes and artillery bombardment on their positions, by mixing in with the crowd. The Vietnamese used a similar tactic during the 70s.

That's basically every insurgency.

 

[iPhone]

Perhaps india can send it's army to help out their friendly afghan govt, no?

 

[django]

Buddy the most important thing in an Army is discipline, remove that and you have nothing. ANA ......................?

Instead of learning discipline, combat skills etc all thes ANA rodents have done is too smoke hashish and practice bache baazi.

 

[Indus Falcon]

Instead of learning discipline, combat skills etc all thes ANA rodents have done is too smoke hashish and practice bache baazi.

With leaders like Dostum, what can one expect?

 

[django]

With leaders like Dostum, what can one expect?

And with so-called spooks like Amrulah (interpreter) Saleh directing their national security paradigm. kudos