Official: US, Taliban close to deal amid intensifying fighting

Senior US diplomat and native Afghan Zalmay Khalilzad made the remarks on Twitter Saturday hours after the Taliban launched a massive offensive against Afghanistan’s strategic city of Kunduz.

He also said the two sides had concluded their latest round of talks in Doha, Qatar.

Witnesses said on Saturday gunfire could be heard across Kunduz, the capital of Kunduz province.

Heavy fighting has been going on in Kunduz city since Taliban fighters mounted attacks from several directions on Friday night. 

The Taliban claimed they had captured several important buildings, while Afghan security officials insisted they had enough manpower on the ground to repel the attack.

Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said at least 34 Taliban terrorists had been killed during ground and air operations in three areas of the city and that purging operations were still underway.

Reports said electricity and most telephone services were cut and residents were sheltering in their houses.

Meanwhile, Taliban fighters also attacked Pul-e Khumri, in the northern province of Baghlan, with interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi saying, fighters had taken up positions in two areas of Pul-e Khumri.

Rahimi also said that Afghan security forces were still fighting Taliban fighters there.

“The whole city is closed,” said Safdar Muhsini, head of the Baghlan provincial council. “If the central government does not take quick action, the situation could get worse.”

President Donald Trump declared on Friday that although Washington had held good negotiations with the Taliban, it had not yet reached a deal on US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Taliban sources have said Trump’s remarks about maintaining a contingent of US forces in Afghanistan, even after the signing of a deal would be unacceptable, demanding a complete pullout of foreign troops.

Nearly 20,000 foreign troops, most of them Americans, are currently deployed in Afghanistan as part of a mission to purportedly train, assist and advise Afghan security forces.