An Afghan police official says Taliban fighters have captured more than half of a major northern city after launching coordinated attacks.
Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, spokesman for the provincial police chief of Kunduz, told The Associated Press on Monday that gun battles are still underway between Taliban militants and Afghan government forces.
He says Taliban gunmen have occupied a number of government buildings in the city, including a hospital and a courthouse.
Zubair Massoud, Advisor to the National Security Council of Afghanistan, tweeted that Afghan Special Forces were preparing to enter the city.
Special Forces preparing to retake all positions. The situation will change in a few hours. pic.twitter.com/6PI5DPPbEv— Zubair Massoud (@ZubairMassoud) September 28, 2015
Kunduz city, capital of the province of the same name, has twice come under attack by the Taliban this year. The strategically situated city was once one of Afghanistan's wealthiest.
According to local news outlet TOLO News, ongoing battles were still underway on the city streets late into the evening.
KUNDUZ - Fighting on the streets of Kunduz city is ongoing around police headquarters and governors office— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) September 28, 2015
Hussain Daoudi, an eyewitness in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, says he can hear "the sound of bullets and blasts almost everywhere in the city" after the Taliban launched a major assault.
Local police say the insurgents have seized more than half of the city, including a courthouse, a hospital and other government buildings.
Daoudi says that after the initial pre-dawn attack residents were told the battle was over, but that "everything changed this afternoon and Taliban fighters took control of different parts of the city."
The Taliban have not held a major Afghan city since their government was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.