Afghan security forces on Tuesday repelled a fierce
Taliban attack on Kunduz, officials said, a strategic city in northern
Afghanistan that had briefly fallen to the militants twice in the past.
Taliban fighters attacked several outposts of Afghan forces on the outskirts of the city at around 1:00 am, triggering fierce fighting, a defence ministry statement said.
Both sides have repeatedly clashed in rural areas in recent months, but an attempt to enter a city like Kunduz is seen as a serious escalation.