As Afghan soldiers and police struggle to contain an escalating insurgency that has targeted several cities in recent weeks, the country's special forces are being tested as never before, Reuters reported.
Trained in counter-insurgency tactics at the elite School of Excellence near Kabul, these soldiers led the battle to retake Kunduz, after regular forces fled their posts last month to cede the northern city to militants they easily outnumbered.
"The credit for the Kunduz victory goes to the Afghan special forces of the police and Afghan National Army," said interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi, referring to the government's recapture of most of Kunduz a few days after it fell to the Taliban in late September.