Story highlights Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz "largely in hand of enemies," interior ministry spokesman says.

Taliban freed more than 500 prison inmates in Kunduz, police spokesman says

Attack began in early morning and lasted into the evening, before waning, official says

At least four civilians reported killed; 25 Taliban fighters dead, 2 Afghan policemen killed, official says

(CNN) The Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz has largely fallen into "the hand of enemies," Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said late Monday.

Sediqqi had said earlier that Afghan security forces, backed by air power from the Afghan army, were holding Taliban insurgents who were targeting a prison at bay, the provincial police chief's compound and some other targets.

Fighter planes still were flying over Kunduz, but the gunfights had ended, and authorities were preparing to recapture the city from the Taliban as soon as possible, Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for the Kunduz police chief, said.

Earlier Monday, the insurgents seized the main roundabout in the city and made it to the prison, where they freed more than 500 inmates, who flooded the streets of Kunduz, Hussaini told CNN.

One of the released inmates told CNN, "We were hearing gunshots throughout the day, but it was 4:00 p.m. when the Kunduz prison guards left the compound. Then, the inmates broke all the doors and fences and started running towards the main gate."

Read More