Afghan and NATO forces cleared Taliban guerrillas from a cluster of villages outside Kandahar on Thursday, removing for the moment any threat that they might try move into their former stronghold in the southern part of the country.The Taliban fighters, who had infiltrated as many as eighteen villages here, largely retreated before a force of about 1,100 Afghan soldiers that began moving into the area Wednesday, Afghan and NATO officials said. NATO planes and helicopters supported their advance.
For the Afghan army and NATO forces, which have suffered a number of setbacks in the area, the news seemed all good: Afghan soldiers killed 56 Taliban fighters during the operation, including a number of foreigners, General Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, said at a press conference. The operation was carried out without loss of civilian life, Afghan and NATO officials said. Following the deaths of two Afghan soldiers Wednesday, the Afghan army suffered no new casualties. "Arghandab is totally cleared out of the enemies," General Azimi said at a press conference in Kandahar. Azimi conceded that a number of Taliban fighters appeared to have slipped away.
By Thursday evening, ISAF, the NATO-backed force deployed in the area, was urging the roughly 4,000 Afghans who had fled their homes to return.