by Our Foreign Desk

THE Taliban captured more than half of the northern Afghan city of Kunduz in a major assault yesterday.

Hundreds of guerillas overwhelmed soldiers and police in a series of co-ordinated early-morning attacks from several directions, capturing a hospital, a court and other government buildings.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the target of the assault was the city’s main prison and police headquarters.

He said security forces in Kunduz, which managed to fend off a major Taliban advance earlier this year, had intelligence that another attack was being planned.

“Security forces in Kunduz were prepared for an attack but not one of this size, and not one that was co-ordinated in 10 different locations at the same time,” Mr Sediqqi said.

“Right now intensive gun battles are going on inside the city. Part of the city is under the control of the Taliban, including the markets, shops and a number of government buildings.”

Kunduz Governor Omar Safi was not in the city at the time, and the UN assistance mission to Afghanistan said all its staff had been evacuated from its Kunduz office.

Mr Safi’s spokesman Abdul Wadood Wahidi said that three police officers had been wounded and “more than 20 bodies of Taliban fighters are on the battlefield.”

The Taliban launched their spring offensive with a major attack on Kunduz in April.

Tentative peace talks were held in Pakistan in the summer but were suspended following the government’s revelation of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar.