Ahmad Shokur Ghaznawi, a Kunduz resident, said he had heard a barrage of gunfire as security forces and Taliban fighters clashed in the alley just outside his home. As the fighting intensified, about 50 members of the Afghan security forces massed in the alley. By Sunday morning, the security forces had retreated to a town south of the city and Taliban fighters flooded into the streets on motorcycles, in police vehicles and in Humvees. “The people just want to flee alive and leave all their belongings behind,” said Sulaiman Satarzada, 28, a businessman in Kunduz. By the day’s end, the Taliban had also captured the northern city of Taliqan, the capital of Takhar Province, and Sar-i-Pul, the capital of the northern province with the same name.

Source: New York Times August 08, 2021 22:09 UTC