KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Around 1,000 families have left their houses for safer places as fighting for the control of the strategically important Imam Sahib district in the northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan entered its second day on Monday, said a local official.
Taliban militants launched coordinated offensive against government interests in Imam Sahib district Sunday afternoon to overrun the district, which has left over a dozen dead and injured.
"Around 1,000 families have left their houses for safer places since eruption of the conflict in Imam Sahib district on Sunday," member of Kunduz Provincial Council, Mohammad Yusuf Ayubi told Xinhua.
At least 13 people including 10 militants and three security personnel have been killed as clash for the control of Imam Sahib district in the northern Kunduz province entered its second day on Monday, district governor Amanudin Qurishi said.
Taliban militants, according to the official, launched a coordinated offensive on Sunday to overrun Imam Sahib district, but their designs have been foiled as the militants after leaving 10 bodies behind and eight injured retreated the area.
According to senior police officer Abdul Hamid Hamidi, Taliban fighters have been defeated and normalcy would soon return to Imam Sahib district.
Imam Sahib, if captured by militants would facilitate the Taliban outfit to receive support from their fighters based in the neighboring Qala-e-Zal and Khwaja Ghar districts to mount pressure on Kunduz provincial capital the Kunduz city.
Meanwhile, director of Refugees and Displaced People in Kunduz city, Sayed Abdul Salam Hashimi in talks with Xinhua confirmed that countless families have left their families for safer places due to the fighting in Imam Sahib district, saying survey is underway to determine the exact figure of the displaced families.
