The government in Kabul currently operates under a tenuous power-sharing agreement that emerged from the 2014 elections. This agreement has made the government's security efforts as important for political stability as they are for maintaining Afghanistan's territorial integrity. Kunduz is a major population center, strategically located on highways that connect directly to Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif. But it is just one of the cities in which Afghan security forces are struggling to maintain control against the Taliban insurgency. Until winter brings its usual lull in insurgent activity , the Taliban will continue to conduct attacks and to stage similar offensives in northern provinces, including Faryab, Takhar, Baghlan, and Badakhstan. This is in addition to Taliban operations in the southern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan. Kabul's challenge will be to balance its security efforts in Kabul with those in these other areas.