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| Kunduz, Afghanistan (Click Image to Enlarge) |
by Sonil Haidari
General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the first vice president, announced on Sunday night that he will lead a large-scale military operation in Kunduz to clear the province of insurgents.
According to him, he will visit the province in the next few days, along with the interior minister, Taj Mohammad Jahid, and one of the deputy National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief's.
Dostum meanwhile acknowledged that "there are issues in the leadership of the security forces in Kunduz fighting against the Taliban."
However, local security officials said that the troops have cleared most areas around traffic circles in Kunduz including the one in the first and third districts, in Chahara-e-Cinema and in Bandar-e-Kabul.
The security forces have also started house-to-house searches for insurgents who have been hiding out in civilian homes for the past week.
Officials said that a military operation was launched early Monday along the Kunduz-Takhar highway and in Bandar-e-Khan Abad area to clear the insurgents.
In the meantime, Afghan and foreign air forces have also carried out air operations in different parts of Kunduz.
Read the full story at TOLOnews