Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/577975
ByRahimFaiez and Lynne O'Donnell The Associated Press KABUL, AFGHANISTAN The Taliban captured the stra- tegic northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Monday in a multi-pronged attack in- volving hundreds of fight- ers, the first time the insur- gents have seized a major urban area since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. The fast-moving assault took military and intelli- gence agencies by surprise as the insurgents descended on the city, one of Afghan- istan's richest and the tar- get of repeated Taliban of- fensives as the militants spread their fight across the country following the with- drawal last year of U.S. and NATO combat troops. Within 12 hours of launching the offensive around 3 a.m., the mili- tants had reached the main square,tearingdownphoto- graphs of President Ashraf Ghani and other leaders and raising the white flag of the Taliban movement, residents reported. More than 600 prisoners, including 140 Taliban fight- ers, were released from the city's jail, and many people were trying to reach the air- port to flee the city. "Kunduz city has col- lapsed into the hands of the Taliban," Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told the Associated Press. "Security forces in Kun- duz were prepared for an attack, but not one of this size, and not one that was coordinated in 10 different locations at the same time." The Taliban used social media to claim the "con- quest" of Kunduz and reas- sure residents that the ex- tremist group — respon- sible for the vast majority of nearly 5,000 civilian ca- sualties in the first half of this year, according to the United Nations — came in peace. A statement attributed to the group's new leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, the self-styled Islamic emir of Afghanistan, said: "The citizens of Kunduz should not worry about safeguard- ing their lives and proper- ties. Carry out your ordi- nary livelihoods in abso- lute security. All traders, workers, staff of hospitals, municipality and govern- ing bodies should continue their daily routines without any fear or intimidation." The Taliban have a his- tory of brutality toward those they regard as apos- tates, and have banned girls from school as well as mu- sic, movies and other trap- pings of modern life in ar- eas under their control. The fall of Kunduz marks a major setback for gov- ernment forces, who have struggled to combat the Taliban since the U.S. and NATO shifted to a support- ing role at the end of last year. The city is a strategic prize for the Taliban and its capture, however short- lived, is sure to be used as a propaganda victory. This year's fight has severely tested Afghan forces, who lack air power and must rely on the United States for selective airstrikes, and suffer huge casualties and low morale. Nevertheless, they have largely held their ground in the face of a Tal- iban strategy clearly aimed at forcing them to spread resources ever-thinly across the country. Sediqqi said military re- inforcements were being sent to Kunduz, where gov- ernment forces managed to fend off a major Taliban as- sault in April, the start of the insurgents' annual sum- mer offensive. "We are try- ing our best to clear the city as soon as possible," he said. Kunduz has been regu- larly targeted by the Tali- ban, who have allied with other insurgents, includ- ing the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and mili- tants driven into Afghani- stan from neighboring Pak- istan by an assault on their hideouts near the porous border. Gen. Murad Ali Murad, the deputy chief of army staff, said Monday's attack involved a large number of Taliban drawn from across the north and included for- eign fighters, likely Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan members with an eye on the Central Asian states to Afghanistan's north. "Strategic areas, includ- ing the airport, are con- trolled by Afghan secu- rity forces," he said. "Re- inforcements have already arrived and attacks on the insurgent positions will be launched soon," he added, without elaborating. Sediqqi said the target of the Taliban assault was the city's main prison and po- lice headquarters. Earlier, deputy presiden- tial spokesman, Zafar Hash- emi, had called the situa- tion "fluid," saying Ghani was "in constant contact with the security and de- fense leadership to provide them with guidance." "Our first priority is the safety and security of resi- dents," he said. Analyst Faheem Dashty said Afghan security and intelligence agencies had been "caught by surprise" in what appeared to be a "big failure" of security and in- telligence. "They were expecting a big attack but couldn't de- fend the city," he said. A senior U.S. defense of- ficial, speaking on condi- tion of anonymity in order to discuss an ongoing mili- tary operation, said the U.S. military was aware the Tal- iban had taken control of a hospital and a number of government buildings in the city, and that both sides — the Taliban and govern- ment forces — had sus- tained a significant num- ber of casualties. TALIBAN ATTACK Key Afghan city falls in major setback to government HEKMATAIMAQ—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Taliban fighters and young men take over an army truck on a street in Kunduz, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. JOAQUIN Washington 82/71 New York 82/68 Miami 90/77 Atlanta 77/68 Detroit 73/53 Houston 84/70 Chicago 65/51 Minneapolis 62/42 Kansas City 74/54 El Paso 93/66 Denver 75/53 Billings 78/50 Los Angeles 87/66 San Francisco 69/56 Seattle 74/51 AIRQUALITYFORECAST Whatitmeans:0-50:Good; 51-100:Moderate; 101-150:Unhealthyforsensitivepeople; 151+:Unhealthyforall. Source: Airnow.gov City Today'sairquality City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W CALIFORNIA CITIES National and world forecast s-sunny,pc-partly cloudy,c-cloudy,sh-showers,t-thunderstorms,r-rain,sf-snow flurries,sn-snow,i-ice City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Summary National Extremes World Extremes North and South America Asia, Australia Africa CarsonCity Hawthorne Reno Herlong Lovelock Sacramento Yuba City Napa Ukiah Chico Corning Lakeview Alturas Susanville Redding Red Bluff Laytonville Fort Bragg Point Arena Eureka Redway Mount Shasta Yreka Crescent City Ashland Shown is today's weather. Temperatures are today's highs and tonight's lows. Shown are today's noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. ALMANAC Precipitation Temperatures ALLERGY REPORT Pollenlevels Source: National Allergy Bureau TODAY'S UV INDEX (The higher the number, the faster skin damage will occur.) Extreme Very high High Moderate Low SUN SETTINGS, MOON PHASES Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset Hoursofsunlight River Levels SacramentoRiver Flood 7a.m. 24-hr Stage yest. chg. Lake Levels Elevation Yesterday Storage (acre-feet) Percent Capacity Q: A: WEDNESDAY 84° 54° THURSDAY 85° 58° Mostly sunn y Sun and clouds FRIDAY 95° 60° Mostly sunn y and ve ry warm SATURDAY 90° 56° Sunshine TODAY 89° 54° Clouds and sun. Clear tonight. High ....................................................................... 92° Low ........................................................................ 57° Normal high ......................................................... 87° Normal low ........................................................... 56° Record high ........................................... 104° in 2010 Record low .............................................. 47° in 1986 Humidity noon today ........................................ 23% 24 hours through 2 p.m. yesterday ................. 0.00" Month to date ................................................... 0.20" Normal month to date ..................................... 0.46" Season to date .................................................. 0.23" Normal season to date .................................... 0.70" Red Bluff through 2 p.m. yesterday Chico .................................................................. Good Napa ................................................................... Good Red Bluff .............................................. Not available Redding ............................................... Not available Yuba City ........................................................... Good Allergy, dust and dander today: Beneficial Grass ....................... Low Mold .........................Low Trees ............. Moderate Weeds ........... Moderate 4 Highest at 12 p.m. Today 7:03 a.m. 6:55 p.m. 8:14 p.m. 8:51 a.m. Wednesday 7:04 a.m. 6:54 p.m. 8:58 p.m. 10:03 a.m. 11 hr., 52 min. Oct4 Last Oct12 New First Oct20 Full Oct27 aboveBendBridge......................27 ...........2.20 .......none atHamiltonCity.........................148 ......129.30 .......none atOrdFerry................................114 ........96.80 .......none atRedBluffDiversionDam.......253 ......238.50 ......+0.10 atTehamaBridge ......................213 ......201.00 .......none atVinaWoodsonBridge............183 ......166.90 .......none BlackButte ....................442.64..............36,787 .....25.6% LakeOroville..................672.38.........1,056,009 .....28.3% LakeShasta ...................933.62.........1,619,795 .....35.6% LakeTrinity..................2194.19............553,689 .....20.9% Whiskeytown...............1209.30............238,855 .....99.1% Weather Trivia ™ What weather instrument did Torricelli invent? The mercurial barometer in 1643 Today Wednesday Anaheim 89/64/pc 90/64/pc Bakersfield 92/63/s 90/62/s Chula Vista 84/65/pc 84/67/pc Crescent City 60/51/s 61/48/s Death Valley 104/66/s 105/68/s Eureka 61/48/s 62/48/s Fremont 74/56/pc 74/55/pc Fresno 89/64/pc 88/64/s Glendale 89/65/pc 90/66/pc Huntington Beach 82/67/pc 82/69/pc Irvine 85/65/pc 86/66/pc Lake Tahoe 73/48/pc 72/44/pc Long Beach 87/67/pc 88/68/pc Los Angeles 87/66/pc 88/68/pc Mammoth Mountain 78/43/pc 78/46/s Modesto 84/59/pc 83/58/pc Monterey 68/56/pc 69/55/pc Moreno Valley 92/57/s 95/60/s Napa 76/52/pc 76/51/pc Needles 107/79/s 107/79/s Oakland 72/55/pc 72/56/pc Oxnard 78/63/pc 80/63/pc Redding 89/52/s 85/52/pc Riverside 94/57/s 96/60/s Sacramento 83/54/pc 82/53/pc San Bernardino 94/59/s 96/61/s San Diego 82/69/pc 83/70/pc San Francisco 69/56/pc 69/56/pc San Jose 76/55/pc 75/54/pc San Luis Obispo 80/56/pc 85/58/pc Santa Ana 83/66/pc 83/67/pc Santa Barbara 80/59/pc 84/60/pc Santa Clarita 90/60/s 92/63/s Stockton 85/55/pc 83/55/pc Ventura 80/63/pc 81/64/pc Yosemite Valley 83/50/pc 82/55/s Today Wednesday Albuquerque 88/61/s 88/62/s Atlanta 77/68/t 80/63/t Baltimore 80/68/c 75/57/r Boston 78/64/c 68/51/r Buffalo 71/53/r 62/47/pc Chicago 65/51/sh 64/50/s Cincinnati 75/59/t 71/53/pc Dallas 91/69/pc 90/67/s Denver 75/53/pc 82/54/pc Detroit 73/53/sh 67/46/s El Paso 93/66/s 91/65/s Fargo 64/42/s 65/46/pc Honolulu 86/77/sh 87/76/s Houston 84/70/t 89/68/pc Indianapolis 76/56/t 71/48/pc Kansas City 74/54/c 71/49/pc Las Vegas 100/75/s 101/74/s Louisville 76/62/t 74/56/pc Miami 90/77/t 89/76/t Minneapolis 62/42/s 62/43/pc New Orleans 87/73/t 86/71/pc New York City 82/68/sh 72/56/r Oklahoma City 86/63/s 81/59/s Tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and an approaching cool front will unleash areas of drenching rain from part of the Ohio Valley to the Appalachians today. There will also be an uptick in showers along the Atlantic Seaboard, where warmth will hold on one more day. Much of the Midwest can expect a cool day. Showers will lin- ger over the central Plains and Rockies, as well as around the lower Great Lakes. The South Central states are forecast to turn less rainy from west to east, while downpours drench Florida. Much of the West will be dry and sunny. High ........................... 106° in Needles, CA Low ........................... 21° in Meacham, OR High ........... 114° in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia Low ... -17° in Summit Station, Greenland Bogota 69/46/pc 67/49/c Buenos Aires 67/40/s 67/50/s Caracas 90/78/pc 89/78/t Ensenada 87/62/pc 88/63/pc Mexico City 67/57/t 66/55/t Montreal 76/51/r 58/44/pc Rio de Janeiro 81/72/c 85/72/c Tijuana 84/64/pc 86/65/pc Toronto 72/52/r 61/42/pc Vancouver 66/51/pc 66/51/s Orlando 86/75/t 88/75/t Philadelphia 84/70/sh 74/58/r Phoenix 104/78/s 105/77/s Pittsburgh 72/59/r 65/50/sh Portland, ME 74/56/sh 65/47/r Portland, OR 83/52/s 77/51/s St. Louis 83/58/c 72/53/pc Salt Lake City 85/63/pc 85/62/s Seattle 74/51/s 71/51/s Tucson 98/69/s 101/71/s Washington, DC 82/71/sh 79/59/r Cairo 95/77/pc 91/75/pc Casablanca 78/61/pc 79/63/pc Johannesburg 88/61/s 86/57/pc Kinshasa 90/73/pc 91/72/pc Lagos 80/75/t 80/75/t Nairobi 83/57/pc 83/58/c Tripoli 86/71/pc 87/69/pc Baghdad 101/74/s 104/74/c Beijing 63/54/sh 68/57/sh Hong Kong 92/82/pc 92/82/c Jerusalem 81/65/pc 79/67/pc Kabul 71/49/s 75/47/s Manila 88/78/t 91/77/t Melbourne 63/47/pc 62/41/pc New Delhi 94/72/s 95/70/s Seoul 79/60/pc 76/60/pc Singapore 89/80/c 89/79/pc Sydney 74/58/s 72/56/pc Tehran 79/62/s 82/63/pc Tokyo 72/62/pc 71/64/s Amsterdam 62/46/pc 62/45/s Athens 75/66/t 72/64/c Belgrade 55/48/c 60/47/sh Berlin 62/44/pc 61/42/pc Budapest 63/45/pc 60/43/sh Dublin 61/49/pc 59/47/pc London 65/49/pc 64/49/s Madrid 76/53/pc 74/51/c Moscow 54/42/pc 51/40/c Paris 65/47/s 64/45/s Rome 70/54/t 71/54/c Stockholm 58/44/pc 61/46/pc Vienna 61/43/pc 58/40/sh Zurich 61/41/s 60/39/s 81/48 86/57 85/56 83/50 85/48 83/54 85/54 76/52 85/47 86/55 86/54 77/35 81/35 80/39 89/52 89/54 78/49 64/52 67/52 61/48 74/48 80/39 83/39 60/51 87/51 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2015 norcaltreeexpert@yahoo.com www.norcaltreeexpert.com Eric Jablonowski Owner Phone: 530-416-0425 Fax: 530-527-2102 Lic#987325 Workers Comp Insured & Bonded • Shape • Trim • Lot Clearing • Fire Breaks • Hazard Tree Removal • Stump Grinding Water Truck Service from Walberg, Inc. 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