Afghan forces have begun an operation to retake the city of Kunduz, which was seized by the Taliban on Monday.
Security forces have cleared the area around the central prison and the police headquarters, police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hossini said.
The US said it carried out an air strike on the city early on Tuesday.
Afghan troops and officials had retreated to the airport after militants overran the northern city and freed hundreds from jail.
The attack came as President Ashraf Ghani completed a year in office.
It was one of the most significant militant assaults in years and will pile pressure on Mr Ghani’s unity government – Kunduz is the first provincial capital seized by the Taliban since they lost power in the US-led invasion in 2001.
But the BBC’s Dawood Azami says their main challenge will now be to hold the city.
Reinforcements have arrived from neighbouring provinces to help try to retake Kunduz.
“Serious fighting is going on,” interior ministry official Matin Safraz told Reuters news agency.
“The Afghan security forces have been retaking most of the strategic parts of the city and there’s gunfire in many areas,” he said.
Phone and power services for most of the city were reportedly still down.
A spokesman for the Nato-led coalition in Afghanistan said US forces had conducted an air strike “to eliminate a threat to coalition and Afghan forces” in the area.
Kunduz is strategically important as a transport hub for the north of the country.
The insurgent attack began at dawn on Monday as fighters fell upon the city from different directions. They captured key buildings and freed about 500 prisoners, including members of the Taliban, from the jail.
Officials and troops retreated to the airport, though dozens of civilians who fled to the airport were reportedly turned away by security forces.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was treating more than 100 people wounded in heavy fighting and its facility in the city was full.
Defending the military’s performance on Monday, the Afghan army’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Murad Ali Murad, suggested government forces withdrew to avoid civilian casualties.
“Our forces arrived there on time, but we had to take extra care not to cause civilian casualties,” he said.
Kunduz province has seen a number of attacks since April, with the Taliban joining forces with other insurgents.
Militant violence has increased across Afghanistan since the departure of most US and Nato forces last year.
The few thousand Nato troops that remain are mostly just training and advising Afghan forces, although US drones still target militant leaders.(BBC News)
Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34387914
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