Siege of Kunduz

Siege of Kunduz
Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) and the Afghan Civil War
American Special Forces with Northern Alliance fighters outside Kunduz in November 2001
Date 11 – 23 November 2001 (1 week and 5 days) Location Kunduz, Afghanistan Result Northern Alliance/American victory.
Belligerents
Northern Alliance United States	Taliban al-Qaeda IMU
Commanders and leaders
Mohammed Daud Daud Abdul Rashid Dostum Tommy Franks	Mullah Faizal[1]
Strength
unknown Northern Alliance strength 12 Americans	10,000 Taliban 3,000 foreign fighters [2]
Casualties and losses
unknown	2,000 killed or wounded 3,500 captured [3] 5000 escaped to Pakistan through airlifting by Pakistan Army

The Siege of Kunduz took place in 2001 during the War in Afghanistan. After the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif on November 9, the focus of the Northern Alliance advance shifted towards the city of Kunduz, which was the last remaining Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan.

Forces under the command of General Mohammed Daud Daud linked up with American Special Forces advisers and advanced to the city of Taloqan, arriving outside the city on November 11. There, Daud's forces attacked before American airstrikes could be called in, quickly routing the Taliban and seizing control of the city.

After routing the Taliban at Taloqan, Daud's forces moved to besiege Kunduz. They initially met heavy resistance, leading Daud to decide to entrench his forces around the city and use American air support to weaken the Taliban. For the next eleven days, American aircraft bombarded Taliban positions, destroying 44 bunker complexes, 12 tanks and 51 trucks as well as numerous supply dumps.^[3]

Several thousand Taliban and Al Qaeda foreign fighters, along with agents of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and military personnel, were evacuated by Pakistan Army aircraft during the last three days of the siege, in an event that has been nicknamed the Airlift of Evil.

On November 22, Daud's forces captured the nearby town of Khanabad. With their position deteriorating, the Taliban forces inside Kunduz agreed to surrender on November 23.^[3] After the Taliban surrender, there were reports of looting by Northern Alliance soldiers as well as reports of the executions of Taliban prisoners.^[4]

Human rights bodies estimate that several hundred or several thousand captured prisoners died in or after transit to Sherberghan prison.^[5] The deaths have become known as the Dasht-i-Leili massacre. Allegations have been made, notably by columnist Ted Rall and Jamie Doran's 2002 documentary Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death, that U.S. troops were involved.^[6] A July 2009 report in the New York Times caused United States President Barack Obama to order a probe into how the Bush administration handled calls for investigation of the massacre.^[7]

References