Clashes between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces are reportedly intensifying in areas close to Tajikistan’s border but Dushanbe is sanguine about this and monitor the situation.
Afghan media reports say clashes between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces are going on in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province and the Imam Sahib district chief said on Monday that if reinforcements do not arrive, the district is likely to collapse.
Amanuddin Quraishi told Pajhwok Afghan News at around 5 pm yesterday that the Taliban launched attacks on Aqbai village on Sunday morning and eventual took control of the village.
The insurgents have now reached near Maqwar area of the district, he said, adding: “Last night, security forces arrived here and launched an operation. But unfortunately the Taliban advanced further and are closing in on the district center.”
He said the situation was worse. “I am inside the district center building which is the frontline of the clash.”
According to him, if reinforcements do not join the beleaguered security personnel, then the district may collapse.
Citing Afghan official, TOLOnews reports the Taliban have moved forward on the battlefield and that over 1,000 families have been forced to flee the area.
Taliban reportedly attacked Imam Sahib district of northern Kunduz province on Sunday afternoon and clashes are still ongoing, local officials said on Monday.
Mohammad Yousuf Ayoubi, a member of the local provincial council said Taliban insurgents have advanced on the battlefield and over 1,000 families have been displaced.
“Nearly 20 civilians were wounded in the clashes. The Taliban have also moved forward and they are two kilometers from the district governor’s compound,” Ayoubi said.
But Hamidullah Hamidi, the provincial police chief, said the Taliban fighters have retreated and “they (Taliban) have suffered heavy casualties in the attack.”
“A Taliban commander is also among the dead and two armored vehicles belonging to the insurgents were destroyed,” Hamidi claimed.
Imam Sahib, which shares a common border with Tajikistan, is a strategic district of Kunduz province.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Ulughkhojayev, a spokesman for the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Tajikistan, says Tajikistan’s power-wielding structures are well aware of what is going on in Afghan areas bordering Tajikistan and closely monitor the situation along Tajikistan’s common border with Afghanistan.
According to him, no violations of the Tajik-Afghan border have been reported over the past day and no one shell has exploded on Tajik territory.
