Blast in Kunduz city leaves 10 dead, several wounded

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – Minutes after Afghan government claimed having cleared Kunduz -- a city in northern Afghanistan – from insurgents, Taliban reportedly struck back, killing 10 people and injured five others, including the police chief.

The Interior Ministry Spokesman Nusrat Samimi confirmed that a suicide bomber detonated himself with explosives, when the Police Chief Manzur Stanikzai, was briefing journalists at the city center.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier, authorities had claimed to have pushed the Taliban out of Kunduz, hours after the insurgents stormed the strategically important city.

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani described this assault as a ‘failed attack’ by the Taliban and questioned their commitment to the peace process and talks with the U.S. in Qatar.

Feroz Bashari, a government spokesman in a series of tweets said that at least 26 Taliban fighters were killed in the first airstrike in Zakhail, Kunduz. He accused the Taliban of using civilians as human shields.

Kunduz, once the Taliban’s hub in the north, briefly fell twice to the group in 2015 and 2016. It is the sixth largest city of Afghanistan and the largest city in the northeastern section of the country, linking northern provinces with Kabul.

The offensive coincided with the resumption of talks between the U.S and Taliban on Saturday in the Qatari capital Doha.

Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in violence ahead of next month’s presidential elections. The Taliban insurgents oppose the conduct of elections.