The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that more than 32,000 people were fleeing Kunduz, a city in north Afghanistan, where fighting between armed groups and government forces entered its eighth day on October 10.
Initial reports indicate that over 32,400 people have fled Kunduz and are arriving in Taloqan, Kabul, Pul-e-Khumri, Taloqan and Mazar-i-Sharif, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing on Monday. According to him, this figure is likely to increase. “People are in need of shelter, food, water, sanitation, hygiene, and medical support,” he said.
The humanitarian situation inside Kunduz continues to be of concern — water and electricity have been cut off for over a week and food supplies are scarce, he noted.
Taliban militants in a surprise move overran parts of the strategically important Kunduz city, the capital of the northern Afghanistan's Kunduz province, along the border with Tajikistan, on October 3, forcing many families to leave the war zone for safer places.
The prolonged fighting has also claimed countless civilian lives over the past eight days and government forces have yet to recapture the key city in the northern region.
Afghan Tolo News reports that according to the Kunduz general hospital, at least three civilians have been killed and more than 290 wounded, but local residents reportedly say the actual toll is much higher.
“Key parts of the city have been cleared, with 52 insurgents killed in the last 24 hours,” the interior ministry said on Sunday, according to Tolo News.
The Taliban attack on Afghanistan's fifth-largest city a year after it was overrun by insurgents has raised serious concerns about the capacity of NATO-trained government forces to protect large urban centers.
U.S forces are supporting Afghan troops in clearance operations inside Kunduz, with at least six airstrikes against Taliban positions since October 6.
"Military reinforcements have reached Kunduz, and the enemy will be defeated and punished," President Ashraf Ghani said in a televised speech on October 9.
Afghan media outlets report that After their assault on Kunduz, the Taliban have also attempted to overrun other provincial capitals, from Baghlan in the north to Farah in the west, but Afghan forces have managed to repel the attacks.
