KABUL - Quasim Jangal Bagh, the northern Kunduz Police Chief, said on Tuesday that all parts of Kunduz city have been cleared of insurgents and the security forces continue to push forward.
Jangal Bagh said that clearing operations still continue on the Takhar –Kunduz highway and in the Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz. In addition, five insurgents were killed in operations on Tuesday night in the Sher Khan Bander area in Kunduz city.
The local officials said that clearing operations continue in Dasht-e-Archi – a district in Kunduz province which is currently under the control of the Taliban.
Officials said that military operations also continue in Khaja Ghar district of Takhar.
A policeman was however killed and four others injured during the operation on Monday after their vehicle struck a roadside mine.
Mohammad Omar, District Governor of Khaja Ghar said: "The security forces are moving forward in Khaja Ghar district towards Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz."
He says that the insurgents have sustained massive casualties in the operation and one of their commanders named Hanzala was also among the dead. He said many Taliban members escaped the area.
TOLOnews journalist Karim Amini reported early Tuesday that the situation is back to normal in Kunduz city and said it was "like it was two weeks ago". He said "most of the people have come out into the city and are going back to work."
On Monday, the Afghan acting defense minister Masoom Stanekzai said that al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and other foreign militant groups were involved in the Kunduz attack after Pakistan launched a military operation to oust them from the tribal areas of northern Waziristan.
Pakistan launched a large-scale joint operation called "Zarb-e-Azb" in mid June 2014 which Pakistani officials said was aimed at eliminating militant groups from northern Waziristan, which is along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
The operation however evoked widespread criticism from Afghanistan after hundreds of militants reportedly fled to Afghanistan.
Stanekzai told a media briefing Monday that foreign militants, including those who fled Waziristan were behind the Kunduz attack, which led to the northern city's collapse to the Taliban two weeks ago. (Tolonews)