Kunduz

Figure 26: Kunduz, security incidents (Jan - Aug 2015)

Foreign troops transferred security responsibilities of the province to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in July 2012, except for the Khanabad district. (¹¹⁹⁸)

According to the Afghanistan Analysts Network in October 2014, the security situation was ‘worsening in Kunduz province which is an exceptionally complex region of Afghanistan where the presence of numerous factions and a diverse population have made it nearly impossible for any one force to control the entire province’. The local MP noted that ‘Khanabad was close to collapse’ and a similar warning with regard to Dasht-e-Archi and Emamsaheb came from local government officials. (¹¹⁹⁹)

The situation continues to be very instable in Kunduz. The ANSF tried to recruit militias to fight against the Taliban (¹²⁰⁰) while the latter, able to mount large and simultaneous operations in various areas (¹²⁰¹), was about to seize important localities such as Gor Tepa. (¹²⁰²) Disputes between officials in the province can partly explain the instability. The governor, a Pashtun appointed by President Ghani, did not get along with the police chief, a Tajik appointed from the Abdullah camp for reason of ethnic balance in the power share, nor with his deputy, a long-serving mujahid. (¹²⁰³) Taken by surprise by the Taliban’s first 2015 ‘spring offensive’ in Kunduz, ANSF were, however, able to react and push the insurgents back in some areas while they held their ground in others. (¹²⁰⁴) Many insurgents surrendered and agreed to join the peace process. (¹²⁰⁵) According to ISW, as of September 2015, militants remain entrenched outside the provincial capital. (¹²⁰⁶)

On 28 September 2015, the Taliban overran the city of Kunduz, taking control of most areas and freeing hundreds of prisoners from its jail. Hundreds of militants stormed the city before dawn, quickly seizing key buildings and advancing on the airport. (¹²⁰⁷) This was the group’s first attempt on this scale to capture a provincial capital in 12 years of insurgency. The fighters entered the city and overran government buildings with little resistance. (¹²⁰⁸)

(¹¹⁹⁸)  Pajhwok Afghan News, ISAF focus boosting Kunduz civil sector, 16 July 2012.

(¹¹⁹⁹)  Bleuer, C. and obaid, A., Security in Kunduz worsening further: the case of Khananbad, 28 October 2014.

(¹²⁰⁰)  AAN, Stretched Afghan Army falls back on militias to help defend Kunduz, 22 May 2015.

(¹²⁰¹)  Ruttig, T., ANSF wrong Foot: The Taliban Offensive in Kunduz, 3 May 2015.

(¹²⁰²)  Obaid, A., The 2015 Insurgency in the North: Case Studies from Kunduz and Sar-e-Pul, 5 June 2015.

(¹²⁰³)  Matta, B., The Failed Pilot Test: Kunduz local governance crisis, 5 June 2015.

(¹²⁰⁴)  Ruttig, T., ANSF wrong Foot: The Taliban Offensive in Kunduz, 3 May 2015.

(¹²⁰⁵)  Afghan Zariza, At least 22 taliban insurgents lay down arms in Kunduz province, 16 May 2015.

(¹²⁰⁶)  ISW, Militant Attack and Support Zones in Afghanistan: April - September 2015, 18 September 2015.

(¹²⁰⁷)  BBC, Taliban overrun afghan city of Kunduz, 28 September 2015.

(¹²⁰⁸)  Osman, B., The Fall of Kunduz : What does it tell us about the strenght of the post-Omar Taleban?, 30 September 2015.

According to the government, the city was retaken after a counter-offensive on 1 October 2015, however the Taliban contested this claim. (¹²⁰⁹) According to several sources, fighting was still ongoing in the city centre for days after 1 October. (¹²¹⁰) Reuters reported ongoing hit-and-run attacks by Taliban fighters. (¹²¹¹)

People injured by the fighting were treated in the Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) hospital. The Afghan authorities suspected the Taliban would take shelter in the hospital. On the night of October 3, 2015, US forces carried out airstrikes in Kunduz and the MSF hospital was hit. Many patients and MSF staff were injured or killed in the attack.

Having blamed the Taliban, saying that it attacked American Special Forces soldiers, then the ANSF for incorrect information, the US military admitted that the hospital had been mistakenly targeted. President Obama has apologised to MSF for the error. MSF accused Afghan and US forces of war crimes and wants an investigation to be conducted by an independent international commission. (¹²¹²) In an interview with UN Radio, Nicholas Haysom, the top UN envoy in Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, noted that the air strike on the MSF hospital had further deteriorated the humanitarian conditions in Kunduz. (¹²¹³)

Insurgents suffered heavy casualties in Kunduz. Many of them were killed each month in 2015 in operations led by ANSF, including airstrikes (at least 70 in January, 30 in February, 21 in March, 150 in April, 200 in May, 19 in June, 14 in August). (¹²¹⁴) The security forces began also to use the Taliban to launch insider attacks and get insurgents eliminated by their own colleagues. In September 2015, Abdul Latif, a Taleb in touch with security forces, attacked a house where his colleagues had been invited and killed 14 of them (¹²¹⁵) before surrendering to ANSF.

In August 2015, 29 people were killed in a Taliban suicide bombing. The Home Ministry described the victims as civilians but local officials and the Taliban said they were pro-government militiamen. (¹²¹⁶) One month later, six civilians, half of them children, were killed during separate incidents of violence in northern Kunduz and northwestern Badghis provinces. (¹²¹⁷)

Newspapers barely mention the casualties suffered by security forces in Kunduz. A police headquarters was targeted in February 2015. (¹²¹⁸) In March 2015, 7 policemen were ambushed and killed by at least 33 insurgents . (¹²¹⁹) In June 2015, 12 soldiers were killed in clashes. (¹²²⁰)

A series of deadly attacks against NGOs were carried out in rural areas. (¹²²¹) Civilians are victims of blind attacks, including women and children.

MSF medical teams treated 77 patients directly wounded in the fighting, one-third of whom were women or children. (¹²²²) Civilians are also harassed by Taliban and pro-government militiamen who extort money from them. (¹²²³)

The operations led by the rebel groups are diverse: bomb blasts, ambushes, suicide bombings and attacks as previously mentioned, but also kidnappings which are increasing in the province. (¹²²⁴)

(¹²⁰⁹)  RFE/RL, Afghan Officials Say Have Retaken Control Of Most Of Kunduz, 1 October 2015; LA Times, Even as Afghan forces reclaim Kunduz, question remains:

Why did city fall?, 1 October 2015; Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Remarks of spokesman of Islamic Emirate regarding report by Amnesty International, 2 October 2015.

(¹²¹⁰)  Afghan, Mirwais [Twitter], posted on: 6 October 2015; Sarwary, Bilal [Twitter], posted on: 6 October 2015; Tolonews [Twitter], posted on: 6 October 2015.

(¹²¹¹)  Reuters, Taliban fighters launch hit-and-run attacks in Afghanistan’s Kunduz, 6 October 2015.

(¹²¹²)  Monde (Le), Centre MSF de Kunduz : histoire d’une bavure, 8 October 2015.

(¹²¹³)  UNAMA, Civilians at risk as security across northeast Afghanistan remains volatile, 6 October 2015.

(¹²¹⁴)  Tolonews, 70 Taliban insurgents killed in Kunduz operation, 27 January 2015; Tolonews, 19 insurgents killed in Afghan forces operations, 3 February 2015;

Tolonews, 11 Taliban insurgents killed in Kunduz operation, 23 February 2015; Tolonews, Afghan airstrike kills 21 Taliban in Kunduz, 4 March 2015; Tolonews, 104 Taliban insurgents killed in nationwide ANSF operations, 25 April 2015; Tolonews, 40 Taliban insurgents killed in clash with ANSF in Kunduz, 26 April 2015; Tolonews, Kunduz battle leaves 154 Taliban insurgents dead, 29 April 2015; Tolonews, More than 200 insurgents killed in Kunduz as clashes continue, 2 May 2015; Tolonews, 19 Taliban insurgents killed in Kunduz airstrike, 27 June 2015.

(¹²¹⁵)  Pajhwok Afghan News, 14 Taliban killed in First ‘insider attack’ in Kunduz, 1 September 2015.

(¹²¹⁶)  BBC, Afghanistan: Taliban attack in Kunduz kills 29, 9 August 2015.

(¹²¹⁷)  Pajhwok Afghan News, Children among six Civilians killed in Kunduz, Badghis, 7 September 2015.

(¹²¹⁸)  Tolonews, Five Insurgents Killed in Attack on Kunduz Police Headquarter, 10 February 2015.

(¹²¹⁹)  Indian Express (The), Taliban kill 7 police in ambush, 12 March 2015.

(¹²²⁰)  Tolonews, 12 Soldiers killed in ongoing Kunduz clashes, 21 June 2015.

(¹²²¹  Triple Canopy, Afghanistan Weekly Security Report, 4 June 2015.

(¹²²²)  MSF, Scores Treated after Fighting in Kunduz, Afghanistan, 25 June 2015.

(¹²²³)  RFE/RL, Civilians displaced and Repressed in Volatile Afghan Province, Gandhara, 11 June 2015.

(¹²²⁴)  Afghanistan Today, Security Alliances crumble in Kunduz, 22 May 2015.

Regarding child recruitment in 2014, 55 cases of recruitment by armed opposition groups, five cases by the ANSF and two cases by a pro-Government militia have been recorded in Kunduz province. Most of the residences in Khanabad have to ‘voluntarily’ offer a young member of their families to a local armed group in order to secure their own protection. Otherwise, they have to arm themselves and protect their house, night and day. (¹²²⁵) The recruitment and use of children as fighters in Kunduz was also reported in 2015, the youngest being only 10 years old. (¹²²⁶) Since the launch of the Taliban offensive on Kunduz on 28 September 2015, at least 10 children have been killed and 53 injured. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, expressed ‘alarm at reports of the use of children – some allegedly as young as 10 years old – by the Taliban in fighting in and around Kunduz. An unconfirmed number of these children were reportedly killed during combat.

As a result of the hostilities, all 497 schools in Kunduz province have been closed, impeding access to education for over 330,000 children’. (¹²²⁷)

Displacement

According to UNOCHA, 18,355 families from Aliabad, Chardarah, Dasht-e-Archi, Emamsaheb, Khanabad, Kunduz and Qala-e-Zal were reportedly displaced to Kunduz City and surrounding districts as of 27 May 2015. (¹²²⁸) If they cannot get back home in time to sow, they will lose the year’s harvest. (¹²²⁹)

In August 2015, some 2,000 more families in northern Kunduz province were displaced due to fear of conflict, living in dire conditions. (¹²³⁰) After the launch of the Taliban offensive on 28 September 2015, these figures evolved. More than 7,000 families have been verified as displaced in Taloqan. Some families returned to Kunduz city. (¹²³¹) The fall of Kunduz city and the surge in violence in the region caused a displacement of between 100,000 and 140,000 people. (¹²³²) As of 18 October 2015, UNOCHA estimated more than 21,400 families being displaced to the regions surrounding Kunduz. (¹²³³)

Actors in the conflict

As mentioned above, the Taliban is present in large numbers in Kunduz province. Civilians disappointed by official courts ask the Taliban to resolve their disputes. (¹²³⁴) According to the Taliban shadow governor of Kunduz, Mulla Abdul Salam Baryalai, the insurgents took control of many areas in this province. (¹²³⁵)

Various illegal armed groups are major concerns for the Afghan government. These groups can be divided into three categories: groups led by former jihadi commanders, armed militias fighting against the Taliban, and criminal groups. (¹²³⁶) The governor of the province complained that he could not implement the urban master plan for Kunduz city due to interference by mafia elements and some powerful individuals in the province. (¹²³⁷)

The largest foreign fighter contingents are said to be based with their families in Kunduz. (¹²³⁸) Three hundred Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) militants were present in the province by December 2014 who were reportedly led by Qari Balal who escaped from a Pakistani jail in 2010. (¹²³⁹) In August 2015, the National Directorate of Security,

(¹²²⁵)  Child Soldiers, Briefing on the situation of underage recruitment and use of children by armed forces and insurgent groups in Afghanistan to the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, June 2015.

(¹²²⁶)  Al Jazeera, Q&A: The Taliban’s child soldiers in Kunduz, 14 October 2015; Tolonews, Concerns Raised Over Taliban’s Recruitment Of Child Soldiers, 28 October 2015; Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Concern over mourning child casualties and grave violations in Kunduz voiced by Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, 9 October 2015; Telegraph (The), ‘We can’t go back’ say women activists on Taliban Kunduz ‘hit list’, 18 October 2015.

(¹²²⁷)  Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Concern over mourning child casualties and grave violations in Kunduz voiced by Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, 9 October 2015.

(¹²²⁸)  UNOCHA, AFGHANISTAN: Conflict-Induced Displacement (as of 27 May 2015).

(¹²²⁹)  Ruttig, T., ANSF wrong Foot: The Taliban Offensive in Kunduz, 3 May 2015.

(¹²³⁰)  Pajhwok Afghan News, Fear War Kunduz displaces 2000 more families, 31 August 2015.

(¹²³¹)  UNOCHA, Afghanistan: Northeast Conflict Situation – Situation Report No.9, 15 October 2015.

(¹²³²)  ACAPS, Afghanistan: ACAPS Briefing Note – Conflict and Displacement in the Northeast, Kunduz City, and Kabul, 13 October 2015.

(¹²³³)  UNOCHA, Afghanistan: Conflict Situation in North-Eastern Provinces (18 October 2015), 18 October 2015.

(¹²³⁴)  NY Times, Taliban Justice Gains Favor As Official Afghan Courts Fail, 31 January 2015.

(¹²³⁵)  Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, An interview with Mulla Abdul Salam Baryalai, the Jihadi in-charge of Kunduz Province, n.d.

(¹²³⁶)  Bleuer, C. and Ali, O., Security in Kunduz worsening further: the case of Khanabad, 28 October 2014.

(¹²³⁷)  Pajhwok Afghan News, Mafia groups behind spiraling insecurity in Kunduz: Safi, 27 July 2015.

(¹²³⁸)  Tolonews, Influx of foreign militants blamed for uptick in violence, 28 April 2015.

(¹²³⁹)  Congressional Research Service, Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security and US Policy, 2 December 2014.

Afghanistan’s intelligence service, claimed it killed Qari Ghulam Hazrat, the leader of Jundallah, in an airstrike in Kunduz province. Also known as Abu Hazefa, he had worked as ‘military official’ of the Taliban and served in al Qaeda. The Taliban has coordinated its northern offensive with groups such as Jundallah and the Islamic Jihad Union, an offshoot of IMU. The Islamic Jihad Union’s fighters pledged loyalty to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the newly appointed leader of the Taliban. Jundallah is a wing of the IMU which joined IS in August 2015. In the past, IMU has integrated its leaders and fighters with the Taliban command structure in northern Afghan. (¹²⁴⁰) The provincial governor stated that the Taliban had pledged allegiance to IS in this area for its own safety and the fighters had raised the group’s black flag in nearby villages. He also said that foreign fighters from Turkey, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been found among the dead. (¹²⁴¹) Afghan officials have confirmed the presence of IS militants in the northeastern province of Kunduz, which borders Tajikistan and is close to Uzbekistan. (¹²⁴²) Dasht-e-Archi district has been turned into a training centre for Taliban, Jundullah and IS insurgents operating in Kunduz. (¹²⁴³) ALP forces are present in Kunduz, as well as armed pro-government militias. UNAMA continued to report serious human rights violations conducted by these actors in the province, including targeted killings, illegal detention, severe beatings, property destruction, theft, threats, intimidation, and harassment. (¹²⁴⁴)

(¹²⁴⁰)  Roggio, B., Jundullah emir killed in northern Afghanistan, NDS claims, the Long War Journal, 25 August 2015.

(¹²⁴¹)  Tolonews, Kunduz Governor reports Taliban allegiance to Daesh, 26 May 2015.

(¹²⁴²)  RFE/RL, Islamic State rears its head in Afghan region bordering Central Asia, 4 March 2015.

(¹²⁴³)  Pajhwok Afghan News, ISIS flexing muscles in Kunduz, governor says, 2 February 2015.

(¹²⁴⁴)  UNAMA, Afghanistan Midyear Report 2015, Protection of civilians in armed conflict, August 2015, pp. 69-75.