Mohammed Daud Daud - Daud and The Battle of Kunduz

Daud and The Battle of Kunduz

Daud was responsible for overseeing the November 2001 siege of Kunduz which was the last major battle in the assault to topple the Taliban During the siege of Kunduz all sides of the city were surrounded by Northern Alliance forces. Inside the city it was estimated 20,000-30,000 Taliban fighters were holed up. Many of these fighters had vowed to fight to the death, rather than surrender to Northern Alliance forces. Inside of Kunduz during the November 2001 siege were the so-called "Afghan Arabs", the foreign volunteers believed to be led by Osama bin Laden. According to General Mohammed Daud a pro-Taliban leader named "Omar al-Khatab"—was leading a force of 1,000 foreign fighters belonging to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. Little was known about the foreign Taliban. According to Afghan Taliban soldiers taken prisoner by the Northern Alliance, the foreigners did not fight side by side with the Taliban, but in separate units, under their own commanders. As the siege wore on, the mayor of Kunduz eventually trekked through the surrounding mountains to meet General Mohammed Daud of the Northern Alliance. A meeting between the two men supposedly took place in a garden near Taloqan. Following the meeting with Daud the mayor was ready to surrender, but still needed time to negotiate with the foreign volunteers, who bitterly opposed the surrender. In an effort to end the siege, Daud promised the low ranking Taliban fighters fair treatment if they surrendered: "We will allow the low-ranking foreigners to appear before a court." On November 27, 2001 street-to-street fighting began at 7am in Kunduz, when Northern Alliance troops led by General Mohammed Daud advanced into town. The remaining Taliban were defeated and Kunduz fell into Northern Alliance control. After victory at the siege of Kunduz and the subsequent establishment of the Interim Government in Afghanistan, Daud was appointed as Military commander of Corps No 6 in Kunduz /Kunduz province.