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The Acting Minister of Defense Masoom Stanikzai said Afghanistan is facing an imposed war and vowed that the Afghan forces will remain resilient against the conspiracies of enemies of Afghanistan.
Stanikzai made the remarks during a visit to northern Kunduz province along with some other high level government officials, including Minister of Interior General Taj Mohammad Jahid.
He hailed the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) members for their bravery and dedication to repulse the Taliban offensive on Kunduz.
The visit by the high level officials followed days after the Taliban militants launched a major offensive to take control of key areas of Kunduz, including the strategic Kunduz city which fell to Taliban last year.
The Taliban militants suffered heavy casualties after launching the attack on Kunduz with the local officials saying at least 40 militants were killed in the initial phase of the clashes.
The gun battle continued for several days after the attack was launched almost a week ago.
The Taliban militants seized the control of the city late in mid-2015 after launched coordinated attacks on the city.
However, the Afghan Special Operations Forces have retaken the control of Kunduz city from the Taliban militants earlier in the month of October after the city was in control of the militants for almost a week.
The Taliban insurgents were accused of horrific criminal activities after they seized control of the city, including target killings, rape, kidnappings, use of civilians as shields, looting of public and private properties. -KP
THE PASHTUN TIMES
