Kunduz: Afghan officers sacked for 'failing to defend' northern city that was briefly capture by Taliban in September

The Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, has dismissed members of the country’s national security agency for allegedly neglecting their duty. He said they had failed to defend the northern city of Kunduz, which Taliban militants briefly captured in September.

The seizure of the city was a major setback for the government and prompted Washington to prolong America’s 14-year-old military engagement in Afghanistan.

Government forces retook the city after days of fighting in which a US air strike destroyed a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières, killing 30 people. “There was a lack of unified command, and even though there were many Afghan troops in Kunduz, we failed,” Mr Ghani said in a speech in Kunduz, a trade gateway to Central Asia.

“I have issued an order to dismiss all [agency] personnel who neglected their duties,” he said to cheers from the crowd. Among those dismissed from the National Directorate of Security was the agency’s provincial chief.

Reuters