This is an archive article published on October 13, 2015

Afghanistan: Taliban withdraw from Kunduz, says retreating to avoid civilian casualties

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an email to media on Tuesday that the fighters are retreating to avoid further civilian casualties.

By: AP

2 min readKabulOct 13, 2015 04:25 PM IST First published on: Oct 13, 2015 at 04:12 PM IST

Afghanistan’s security forces inspect the site of a U.S. airstrike, in Kunduz city, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. An Afghan official says government forces have retaken the strategic northern city of Kunduz, which was seized by the Taliban on Monday. The spokesman says it could take some days to “clear the city,” but that Taliban forces have retreated. He says about 200 Taliban fighters have been killed. (AP Photos)

The Taliban say they are withdrawing from Kunduz, a strategic northern city that briefly fell to the insurgents last month, as an Afghan official said life there is returning to normal.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an email to media on Tuesday that the fighters are retreating to avoid further civilian casualties.