US air strike hits Taliban on outskirts of captured Afghan city: NATO

KABUL: US military planes hit Taliban positions on the outskirts of the fallen northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Tuesday, a Nato spokesperson said, as Afghan national forces launched a counterattack to try to retake the city.

The attack at about 9am marked the first US air strike to defend the city.

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"US forces conducted an air strike in Kunduz today to eliminate a threat to coalition and Afghan forces operating in the vicinity of Kunduz," said Colonel Brian Tribus, a spokesperson for the Nato-led coalition. He did not elaborate on how many coalition forces troops were in the area.

Nato officially ended its combat role in Afghanistan last year. A scaled-down coalition presence now mostly trains and advises Afghan forces, although US drones still target militant leaders and a US counter-terror force remains.