The siege of Kunduz took place in 2001 during the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

. After the

fall of Mazar-i-Sharif The fall of Mazar-i-Sharif (or Mazar-e-Sharif) in November 2001 resulted from the first major offensive of the Afghanistan War after American intervention. A push into the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh Province by the United Islamic Front ...

on 9 November, the focus of the Northern Alliance advance shifted towards the city of

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

, which was the last remaining Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan.

Timeline

Forces under the command of General Mohammed Daud Daud met up with American Special Forces advisers and advanced to the city of

Taloqan Taloqan ( Persian, also transcribed Taleqan or Taluqan) is the capital of Takhar Province, in northeastern Afghanistan. It is located in the Taluqan District. The population was estimated as 196,400 in 2006. In 2021, the Taliban gained contro ...

, arriving outside the city on November 11. There, Daud's forces attacked without American air support, quickly routing the Taliban and seizing control of the city. After routing the Taliban at Taloqan, Daud's forces moved to besiege Kunduz. They initially met heavy resistance, leading Daud to decide to entrench his forces around the city and use American air support to weaken the Taliban. For the next eleven days, American aircraft bombarded Taliban positions, destroying 44 bunker complexes, 12 tanks and 51 trucks as well as numerous supply dumps. On 22 November, Daud's forces captured the nearby town of Khanabad. With their position deteriorating, the Taliban forces inside Kunduz agreed to surrender on 23 November. After the Taliban surrender, there were reports of looting by Northern Alliance soldiers as well as reports of the executions of Taliban prisoners. Human rights groups estimate that several hundred or several thousand captured prisoners died in or after transit to Sherberghan prison. The deaths have become known as the Dasht-i-Leili massacre. Allegations have been made, notably by columnist

Ted Rall Frederick Theodore Rall III (born August 26, 1963) is an American columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and editorial-cart ...

and Jamie Doran's 2002 documentary '' Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death'', that U.S. troops were involved. A July 2009 report in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' caused

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

to order a probe into how the Bush administration handled calls for investigation of the massacre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunduz Afghanistan conflict (1978–present) Conflicts in 2001 Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United States 2001 in Afghanistan History of Kunduz Province November 2001 events in Asia Attacks in Afghanistan in 2001 Battles in 2001