아프가니스탄 무장 세력 탈레반이 북부의 전략 도시 쿤두즈를 장악했다. 탈레반이 아프간에서 주요 도시를 장악한 것은 2001년 미 국의 공습으로 정권을 빼앗긴 이후 처음이다.
AP와 AFP통신 등에 따르면 탈레반은 28일(현지시간) 새벽 수백 명의 병사를 동원해 수도 카불에서 북쪽으로 250㎞ 떨어진 쿤두즈의 경찰서와 교도소 등을 목표로 공격을 개시했다.
탈레반은 공격을 시작한 지 12시간 만에 시내 광장에 도달해 아슈라프 가니 아프간 대통령과 다른 지도자들의 사진을 찢고 탈레반 깃발을 내걸었으며, 교도소에 있던 탈레반 병사 140명 등 600여 명의 수감자들을 석방했다.
또 병원과 정부 건물 등을 손에 넣었으며 격렬한 시가전으로 양측의 사상자도 속출하는 것으로 알려졌다. 이에 많은 사람이 도시를 벗어나기 위해 공항으로 향하고 있다고 현지 언론들은 전했다.
아프간 내무부 대변인은 "쿤두즈가 탈레반 수중에 들어갔다"며 "정부군이 탈레반의 공격에 대비해 왔지만 10여 곳에서 동시에 발생한 이런 규모의 공격에는 대응할 수 없었다"고 말했다.
탈레반도 소셜미디어를 통해 쿤두즈를 '정복'했다고 밝혔다.
탈레반의 새 지도자인 물라 아크타르 만수르는 성명을 내고 "쿤두즈 시민은 생명과 재산의 보호를 걱정할 필요가 없다"며 "완전한 안전 속에서 일상을 유지하라" 고 밝혔다.
군 관계자는 "공항 등 전략 지역은 정부군이 통제하고 있다"며 "지원군이 이미 도착해 반군에 대한 공격에 곧 착수할 것"이라고 말했다.
하지만 한 전문가는 "대규모 공격을 예상하고도 도시를 지키지 못했다"며 아프간 정부군과 보안 당국의 참패라고 꼬집었다.
이번 쿤두즈 함락은 탈레반과의 평화협상을 추진해온 아프간 정부, 또 아프간에 서의 전투 임무를 마치고 철군을 준비중인 미국 정부 모두에게 큰 타격이 될 것으로 보인다고 외신들은 전했다.
미군과 나토군은 지난해 말 아프간에서의 전투 임무를 종료하고 정부군 지원 역할로 전환해 임무를 수행해왔다.
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(Yonhap) |
<관련 영문 기사>
Taliban capture northern Afghan city
The Taliban captured the strategic northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Monday in a multi-pronged attack involving hundreds of fighters, the first time the insurgents have seized a major urban area since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
The fast-moving assault took military and intelligence agencies by surprise as the insurgents descended on the city, one of Afghanistan’s richest and the target of repeated Taliban offensives as the militants spread their fight across the country following the withdrawal last year of U.S. and NATO combat troops.
Within 12 hours of launching the offensive around 3 a.m., the militants had reached the main square, tearing down photographs of President Ashraf Ghani and other leaders and raising the white flag of the Taliban movement, residents reported.
More than 600 prisoners, including 140 Taliban fighters, were released from the city’s jail, and many people were trying to reach the airport to flee the city.
“Kunduz city has collapsed into the hands of the Taliban,” Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told the Associated Press. “Security forces in Kunduz were prepared for an attack, but not one of this size, and not one that was coordinated in 10 different locations at the same time.”
The Taliban used social media to claim the “conquest” of Kunduz and reassure residents that the extremist group _ responsible for the vast majority of nearly 5,000 civilian casualties in the first half of this year, according to the United Nations _ came in peace.
A statement attributed to the group’s new leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, the self-styled Islamic emir of Afghanistan, said: “The citizens of Kunduz should not worry about safeguarding their lives and properties. Carry out your ordinary livelihoods in absolute security. All traders, workers, staff of hospitals, municipality and governing bodies should continue their daily routines without any fear or intimidation.”
The Taliban have a history of brutality toward those they regard as apostates, and have banned girls from school as well as music, movies and other trappings of modern life in areas under their control.
The fall of Kunduz marks a major setback for government forces, who have struggled to combat the Taliban since the U.S. and NATO shifted to a supporting role at the end of last year.
The city is a strategic prize for the Taliban and its capture, however short-lived, is sure to be used as a propaganda victory. This year’s fight has severely tested Afghan forces, who lack air power and must rely on the United States for selective airstrikes, and suffer huge casualties and low morale. Nevertheless, they have largely held their ground in the face of a Taliban strategy clearly aimed at forcing them to spread resources ever-thinly across the country.
Sediqqi said military reinforcements were being sent to Kunduz, where government forces managed to fend off a major Taliban assault in April, the start of the insurgents’ annual summer offensive. “We are trying our best to clear the city as soon as possible,” he said.
Kunduz has been regularly targeted by the Taliban, who have allied with other insurgents, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and militants driven into Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan by an assault on their hideouts near the porous border.
Gen. Murad Ali Murad, the deputy chief of army staff, said Monday’s attack involved a large number of Taliban drawn from across the north and included foreign fighters, likely Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan members with an eye on the Central Asian states to Afghanistan’s north.
“Strategic areas, including the airport, are controlled by Afghan security forces,” he said. “Reinforcements have already arrived and attacks on the insurgent positions will be launched soon,” he added, without elaborating.
Sediqqi said the target of the Taliban assault was the city’s main prison and police headquarters.
Earlier, deputy presidential spokesman, Zafar Hashemi, had called the situation “fluid,” saying Ghani was “in constant contact with the security and defense leadership to provide them with guidance.”
“Our first priority is the safety and security of residents,” he said.
Analyst Faheem Dashty said Afghan security and intelligence agencies had been “caught by surprise” in what appeared to be a “big failure” of security and intelligence.
“They were expecting a big attack but couldn’t defend the city,” he said.
Authorities were similarly blind-sided by the April attack and subsequent massing of fighters across the northern provinces, raising questions about the adequacy of the government’s security and defense agencies.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss an ongoing military operation, said the U.S. military was aware the Taliban had taken control of a hospital and a number of government buildings in the city, and that both sides _ the Taliban and government forces _ had sustained a significant number of casualties.
Early indications were that the Afghan forces were in position to push back the attackers and regain control of the city, although the outcome was still in doubt, said the official, speaking earlier Monday before the government announced the fall of the city.
The Kunduz assault highlights the resilience of the Taliban following the revelation earlier this year that their reclusive longtime leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, died two years ago. A bitter internal dispute over the appointment of Mansoor has yet to be fully resolved, but seems to have had little impact on the battlefield. (AP)
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