Update for Thursday, October 1, 2015

Although the Afghan government claims to have recaptured Kunduz, and many headlines simply state this as a fact, many sources say this is not true and that fighting continues. Stars and Stripes:

After residents reported some calm moments in the morning, however, they later described a fluid situation with gunbattles continuing as security forces fought to clear the city.
“You can’t say who is winning in these areas; one moment the government advances and then the Taliban,” said Aminullah Aideen, a member of the provincial council.

By Thursday afternoon, residents in the city center said fighting had resumed, with Afghan and Taliban forces play-ing a deadly game of capture the flag in the main square.

“Taliban took over the main square again and the flag that was raised by the army is again changed to” the white Taliban flag, said Mohammad Sakhi, a resident of downtown Kunduz who only hours before had jubilantly described waking up to government troops securing the area.

I will hold off on the Kunduz situation until it becomes more clear. Meanwhile, Taliban overrun Khawja Ghar in Takhar province, which of course security forces deny. These Taliban advances in the north of the country have taken many observers by surprise, who perceived the Taliban's greatest strength as in the south, in the Pakistan border regions.

A sailor supporting the U.S. operation in Afghanistan has died in a non-hostile incident in Bahrain. The incident is being investigated as a suicide.