The World Food Programme is preparing food packages for displaced families and expects to start distributing them this weekend.

Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents backed by foreign jihadists on the outskirts of Kunduz have been in a standoff for nearly a week since the militants launched an offensive on the city late last month.

The Taliban push on Kunduz, about 500 km (310 miles) north of Kabul, is the most serious threat to a provincial capital in years, although government forces insist the city will not fall to the insurgents.

The Afghan army and police are fighting without substantial help from foreign troops, after the NATO military mission ended its combat role at the end of 2014.

Kunduz police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said government forces would soon launch a big offensive to drive the Taliban from Gul Tepa district on the southern outskirts of the city.