Hundreds of Afghan forces surrender in Kunduz as Taliban consolidates hold on country’s north

In the days leading up to the mass surrender in Kunduz, local elders had visited the base near the city’s airport and asked commanders there to surrender to the Taliban, which pledged not to harm them, said Zargul Alemi, a member of the Kunduz provincial council who fled the province before the surrender. Alemi said that after some commanders accepted the surrender deal, along with a fraction of soldiers at the base, the rest of the forces retreated to a nearby mountain range.