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Defense failed: Afghan soldier in Kunduz province in July
Photo: Ajmal Kakar / imago images / Xinhua
The northern Afghan provincial capital Kunduz has been conquered by the radical Islamic Taliban.
“Kunduz has fallen.
The Taliban have brought all important buildings in the city under their control, «reported a correspondent for the AFP news agency, confirming a statement by the Islamists.
The city has been besieged by the Taliban for weeks.
Heavy clashes had previously been reported from the center of the big city.
"There is fierce fighting in the streets in different parts of the city," said Amruddin Wali, a member of the provincial council.
Some security forces had withdrawn in the direction of the airport.
During the war in Afghanistan, the Bundeswehr was stationed in Kunduz for around a decade.
From 2003 to 2013, German soldiers from the Kunduz military camp monitored security in the north of the country.
The Afghan armed forces have been fighting the Taliban on numerous fronts since the withdrawal of international troops.
The radical Islamic militia already controls large parts of the rural regions and is now increasing the pressure on provincial capitals such as Herat near the border with Iran and Laschkar Gah and Kandahar in the south.
Another provincial capital was conquered in northern Afghanistan.
Sar-i Pul in the province of the same name fell to the Islamists, confirmed provincial councilors Asadullah Churam and Mohammed Nur Rahmani of the German press agency.
According to officials, the Taliban in Sar-i Pul now have the most important government buildings under their control.
All government representatives have retired to a military base around one kilometer from the center of the city, which is under siege.
The Taliban would fire mortar shells at the base.
Massive territorial gains since May
The city of Sar-i Pul has an estimated 180,000 inhabitants.
The province, in which oil deposits are extracted, borders, among other things, in the east on the provinces of Balkh with the capital Mazar-i-Sharif and in the north on the province of Jausdzhan.
The government only holds the Balchab district in the province, the provincial councils said.
On Friday, the small provincial capital Saranj in Nimrus on the Iranian border fell to the Taliban practically without a fight.
This was followed on Saturday by the city of Schiberghan in Jausdschan in the north, seat of power of the controversial former warlord and ex-vice president Abdul Raschid Dostum, a leading anti-Taliban figure.
Since the US and NATO troops began withdrawing in early May, the Taliban have made massive territorial gains in several offensives.
They also conquered several border crossings.
The US military mission in Afghanistan ends on August 31.
According to the US, the withdrawal is more than 95 percent complete.
dab / AFP / dpa