Life not getting any easier for Bundeswehr in Kunduz

The Taliban have a much stronger position in Kunduz than most outsiders thought. In some remote villages they are calling the shots. And it seems the German military, with its approximately 750 soldiers and aid workers, cannot do much to stop them.

Many residents in Kunduz are unhappy with the situation, like Amanullah Nabizada, who says, "There are many areas where our children can't go to school because of fighting. The Taliban are preventing them from going."

Amanullah Nabizada lives in Jarbashi – a village outside of Kunduz. He would like the Afghan security forces to be permanently present.

Not enough Afghan security forces

But this order is too tall. For approximately one million people in Kunduz, there are only around 300 Afghan soldiers and 1,200 poorly-armed police officers keeping the peace . And these security forces are not only fighting the Afghan Taliban.

"When the Taliban were in power, Kunduz was one of their most important hubs," says Muhammad Omar, governor of Kunduz province. "They had many fighters from Chechnya, Uzbekistan and various Arab countries here. And they have all managed to find a way back. They know their way around."

Kunduz to become Taliban stronghold

The Taliban and their allies, the so-called "international jihadists" are growing stronger each year, says Omar. The governor estimates there are between 500 and 1,000 armed extremists in his province. And their main goal is to transform Kunduz into a Taliban stronghold again.

Conrad Schetter, Afghanistan expert at the Center for Development Research in Bonn, sees two reasons why the Taliban are focusing on Kunduz: "The NATO is fighting intense offensives against the Taliban in the south, in Kandahar and Helmand. So the Taliban are trying to divert fighting to the north, to relieve their fighters in the south. That is the main reason."

A further reason, he adds, is that the Taliban want to gain control of the main roads in the north, on which supplies for NATO troops are rolling in from Russia and Central Asia. The Taliban and the international jihadists are preparing for an upsurge in fighting, says Schetter. "When the Taliban fighters left for Pakistan this past winter, they took their families. We are waiting to see whether they return without their families, like many of them have been threatening. If they end up coming back without their families, it is bad news. It would mean they are prepared to fight to the death. And then the Bundeswehr would really have problems."

Bundeswehr should improve training

Schetter suggests that the Bundeswehr invest more resources in training its soldiers. "Aside from the fact that they have insufficient knowledge of the language and culture, they also don't know how a guerilla war is fought. In that kind of war, traditional warfare won't get you very far. The clash with the Taliban last Friday is sad proof." He says, as of now, there are only a few elite units that are fit for missions in Afghanistan.

Schetter fears that in the coming months, the German soldiers will hardly be able to do the job they were sent for, which was helping to rebuild northern Afghanistan.

Author: Ratbil Shamel / sb
Editor: Anne Thomas