KABUL - Gen. Murad Ali Murad, the deputy chief of staff for the Afghan National Army (ANA), said on Sunday that the ongoing operation in Kunduz province is paying dividends and in addition to pushing back the Taliban to remote areas, troops have also retaken military hardware seized by insurgents in the past few weeks.

Murad said: "We assure all the Kunduz residents that the government and security forces are with you. Allah is with you. You [Kunduz residents] should pay attention to mosques, madrassas and other places where militants want to hide and not allow this to happen."

"No group has the ability to re-enter Kunduz city," he assured residents.

According to security officials, Taliban fighters have started recruiting teenagers and children to fight against security forces.

One teenager who was arrested in the Kunduz battle, said: "First they gave me a gun but I was not familiar with it. I had no idea at the beginning how to use it."

Meanwhile, Tariq Majidi, TOLOnews correspondent who is in Kunduz, says residents are however afraid that some Taliban fighters are hiding in residential homes. But security officials say residents are cooperating with them in their efforts to find suspects and prevent them from carrying out attacks in the northern city. (Tolonews)