KABUL // On the afternoon of September 28, Karima Sadiqi fled her home in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, leaving behind almost everything she owned, including her bank cards, passport and the keys to her house. A member of the Kunduz provincial council, she feared she would be killed if she stayed any longer.
Travelling in a Toyota Corolla with her son and daughter-in-law, she reached an area near the airport when she saw the army retreating under fire from the Taliban. The soldiers were in armoured vehicles and the insurgents were shooting at them with a type of Kalashnikov known locally as a Kalakov – an update on the traditional AK-47.
On she went, taking a road to the neighbouring province of Baghlan. Kunduz disappeared in the rear-view mirror, having fallen just hours after the assault began. It was the first time in 14 years of war after the Taliban were overthrown by a 2001 US invasion that the group had captured a major urban centre in Afghanistan.
“Their morale was strong,” Ms Sadiqi said. “They were attacking like a brutal lion opposite the weak animal it has been hunting.”
The collapse of Kunduz was a hugely important moment for Afghanistan that has left many people in the country wondering just how long the central government can survive. A counter-offensive by Afghan forces is still going on, but the city remains volatile and unrest has spread across the north.
Members of parliament have reacted furiously to the turmoil, trading accusations about who was to blame for the city’s collapse and the looting and unrest that followed. Meanwhile, on October 3, a US air strike on a hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres in Kunduz killed 12 staff and 10 patients.
In response, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has appointed an investigative panel to look into how Kunduz was overrun. The five-man team will be headed by former national intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh and will also look into the hospital bombing, Mr Ghani’s office said on Saturday.
The US is also carrying out an investigation into the bombing of the hospital, but MSF has said it assumed the incident was a “war crime”. Health care in the area has been affected badly.
The shock waves of all this are likely to last long into the future. Local officials who were in Kunduz during the Taliban offensive have told The National they were stunned by the insurgents' tactics and impressed with their military strength, describing the panic and disorder that developed as people realised what was happening.
Ms Sadiqi was at her home in District 2 of the city when she realised the Taliban assault was under way. It was around 2am and as the fighting went on she said only the smaller government checkpoints put up any kind of defence. However, they eventually ran out of ammunition and had to abandon their positions at around 1pm when insurgents appeared to hit them from the direction of the city, causing further confusion. An hour later, Ms Sadiqi fled her home.
“We were all amazed by the Taliban. The government has always prided itself on its armed forces and its ability to keep security, saying it is very strong. But in a few hours a province that is the capital of a zone [of the country] collapsed. We were all shocked,” she said.
Ms Sadiqi told The National everyone appeared to take the same route out of Kunduz, fleeing in the direction of the airport south of the city. Those fleeing included soldiers, police and members of the intelligence service. Barely any attempt was made to protect the police headquarters and the city jail, she said.
Fearing the Taliban would recognise her as a member of the provincial council, Ms Sadiqi wore her daughter-in-law’s burqa to cover her face. Now in Kabul, she said the insurgents were still present in the heart of Kunduz last week and that shops had again closed due to the fighting.
“No one is going out of their houses now,” she said.
Kunduz province has been suffering from growing insecurity for several years. Intimidation and violence by pro-government militias, widespread official corruption and ethnic tensions between Tajiks, Uzbeks and Pashtuns combined to create instability the Taliban could exploit.
They first attacked the provincial capital in April, only to be beaten back. But they appear to have stayed in surrounding areas, biding their time for the latest assault.
Mohammed Zahir is the acting governor of the nearby district of Chahar Dara, but he lives in Kunduz city because Chahar Dara is under Taliban control.
He told The National that on September 28 he accompanied about 50 members of the security forces to help a checkpoint that was under attack on the outskirts of town. He then fled to his home when the fighting intensified.
Mr Zahir said government forces had tried to resist the Taliban before retreating to the airport with their weapons and equipment.
“Believe me, most of the people who left the city were those who had the power to leave. But the people who were not able to leave were the poor, who are 60 or 70 per cent of the population,” he said.
Since starting its counter-offensive, the government has repeatedly claimed the situation in Kunduz is improving and officials have invariably referred to high Taliban death tolls as a sign of success. But many Afghans are unconvinced, and the humiliation of losing the city – even temporarily – will linger in the memory.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
