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| Afghanistan |
| Residents flee as Taliban brace for Afghan offensive |
| 2008-06-18 |
| Thousands of residents fled villages near Kandahar as Taliban militants blew up bridges on Tuesday ahead of a looming offensive by Afghan and NATO troops, officials and locals said. A Taliban commander said hundreds of fighters had hunkered down in troubled Arghandab district since late Monday, with many of them having escaped from the southern city's main jail at the weekend in a brazen insurgent attack. The wave of unrest in the strategic region has piled pressure on President Hamid Karzai, who threatened at the weekend that Afghan forces could attack militants on the soil of neighbouring Pakistan. 'Hundreds of families have left, we requested them to leave. Around 300 to 400 Taliban are on the move in the district, they are not stationed in one location,' defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP. The Taliban had blown up one bridge 'so far' in the district, he said, adding that hundreds of Afghan soldiers had been deployed in Arghandab 'to clear the insurgents from the area.' The interior ministry said army reinforcement had been sent to the area. Afghan army General Aminullah Patyali said the rebels had reportedly destroyed several bridges and laid many landmines. One of the mines exploded, killing two Taliban, he said. The US-led coalition said that a joint patrol with Afghan forces saw no massive presence of rebels in the district. The 'forces completed a patrol ... today and found no evidence that militants control the area,' it said in a statement. Meanwhile, three security guards hired by a road construction company were killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Spin Boldak district late Tuesday, Kandahar provincial police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib said. Three guards were killed and another three were wounded in the blast,' he said. Residents fleeing Arghandab, which is surrounded by pomegranate groves and agricultural fields, said the Taliban had seized much of the area and that many people had abandoned their harvests. 'There were Taliban everywhere. They have destroyed all of the small bridges leading to the villages,' Hazarat Jan told AFP on the road to Kandahar as he led a donkey carrying his sick mother. An AFP reporter said dozens of NATO and Afghan security forces had set up checkposts searching vehicles and people. At one checkpoint, policeman Sardar Mohammad said about 700 families amounting to at least 3,000 people had fled. Abdul Mohammad, another resident, said that helicopters from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force 'dropped leaflets on our village, asking us to leave the village before they launch an operation.' NATO civilian spokesman Mark Laity confirmed the leaflet drop but said the villagers were asked to stay in their houses until Afghan security forces remove the Taliban. The Taliban build-up comes days after more than 1,000 prisoners including rebels escaped from Kandahar prison after suicide bombers attacked the main gate. A militant who claimed to be a group commander in Arghandab said that 'dozens' of the escaped prisoners were taking part in the Taliban's activities in the village. 'We're about 400 to 500. There are some Taliban who escaped the jail who have joined us,' Mullah Aminullah told AFP by telephone. There was no way of independently confirming his identity or location. 'We have planted lots of mines on the roads and destroyed small bridges leading to these villages,' Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by telephone that the rebels held most of the area apart from the district centre. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 Thanks LH, keep us posted, the Rapporteur™ does need interpreting.... ;) |
| Posted by: RD 2008-06-18 13:28 |
| #8 be nice to drop behind these mooks and prevent retreat to Pakland. Killing Fields indeed |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-06-18 10:42 |
| #7 AFP says about 1000 Afghan and Canadian troops involved, Canadian armored vehicles. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-06-18 10:36 |
| #6 :) The count is up to 36, now, 20 in Tabin, 16 in the neighboring town of Kohak. 2 Afghan soldiers killed. AP confirms the NATO element of this joint Afghan-NATO op is Canadian. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-06-18 10:32 |
| #5 quoting the AP will cost you, LH |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-06-18 10:09 |
| #4 AP reports 23 talibunnies dead, 20 in the village of Tabin, as of 5 minutes ago. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-06-18 09:51 |
| #3 "wouldnt count" |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-06-18 09:33 |
| #2 they said no evidence militants CONTROL the area. I read that, they sent a patrol down a main road, and the talibunnies went to ground. That doesnt mean theyre not there (though it does mean theyve decided not to spend resources on IEDs/ambushes along the main road) Now thats still promising - whatever road the patrol went through on, can be used to begin to divide up the district into sectors for search and destroy, etc. But I would count on no further kinetic operations before this particular op is done. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-06-18 09:33 |
| #1 Bad Guys Residents flee as Taliban brace for Afghan offensive A Taliban commander said hundreds of fighters had hunkered down in troubled Arghandab district since late Monday ************************************* good guys Afghan army General Aminullah Patyali said the rebelshad reportedly laid many landmines. One of the mines exploded, killing two Taliban, he said. [LOL!] The US-led coalition said that a joint patrol with Afghan forces saw no massive presence of rebels in the district. LOL! |
| Posted by: RD 2008-06-18 00:41 |