- Title: Anger as fighting in Afghan city Kunduz forces people to flee
- Date: 8th October 2016
- Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (OCTOBER 8, 2016) (REUTERS) DISPLACED WOMEN AND CHILDREN FROM KUNDUZ SEATED IN HOTEL TODDLER DRINKING WATER VARIOUS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN WOMAN WHO ESCAPED FIGHTING, "PARMI", SEATED ON MATTRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) DISPLACED WOMAN, PARMI, SAYING: "There is blood and dead bodies everywhere in Kunduz. Our young people are dying and the government hasn't done anything for us." WOMEN AND CHILDREN (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) DISPLACED WOMAN, PARMI, SAYING: "They (the Taliban) captured the city of Kunduz unexpectedly. The government cannot provide security to people in Kunduz. They enter our city once a week. If our security forces were able to provide security, how could they enter?" VARIOUS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN AIDE TO KANDAHAR BUSINESSMAN PAYING FOR FOOD AND SHELTER OF SOME DISPLACED, HASSIB NASER, SITTING DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AIDE TO KANDAHAR BUSINESSMAN PAYING FOR FOOD AND SHELTER OF SOME DISPLACED, HASSIB NASER, SAYING: "Today, people in Kunduz are facing problems and people of Kandahar are helping them and tomorrow, if people from Kandahar are facing problems, people in Kunduz will help them." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING EXTERIOR OF HOTEL WHERE SOME DISPLACED FAMILIES ARE LIVING MAN ENTERING HOTEL
- Embargoed: 23rd October 2016 14:36
- Keywords: Afghanistan Kunduz Taliban fighting Kabul displaced refugees
- Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- City: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
- Reuters ID: LVA00153592YV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Thousands have fled fighting in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz as government forces attempt to reclaim control of the area after its defences collapsed to the Taliban.
The displaced people have sought shelter in Kabul and other cities.
One of the displaced, Parmi, 42, came to Kabul with 13 members of her family this week.
Parmi, who like many Afghans goes only by one name, speaks bitterly of the failure of the government to protect Kunduz, a year on from the last time it was overrun by the Islamist militants.
Her comments, and similar accounts from others, who speak of a blacked-out city running out of food, water and medicine, underline the despair of Kunduz residents and the anger building up against the government of President Ashraf Ghani.
Special forces units, backed by American advisers and air strikes, have been battling to drive Taliban fighters from the city which the insurgents entered unexpectedly at the start of the week, and fighting continues in many areas.
Following widespread reports of security forces abandoning their positions, poor coordination and rivalries among commanders, there has been heavy criticism that the government failed to learn from last year, when the Taliban seized and held the city for two weeks before pulling out.
The United Nations said on Thursday that as many as 10,000 refugees had arrived in Kabul and northern towns including Taloqan and Mazar-i-Sharif.
Hikmatullah Shadman, a businessman from the southern city of Kandahar has paid for food and shelter for Parmi and the other families staying at a hotel.
Kunduz is only one of the many hotspots that have flared in the past few weeks, with heavy fighting seen in Lashkar Gah, capital of the southern province of Helmand, Farah in the west, Baghlan in the north and Nangarhar in the east.
Afghanistan already has more than 1.2 million internal refugees, with some 260,000 forced to flee their homes across the country this year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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