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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Thousands of Afghans flee as Taliban take over area


Reinforcement Afghan soldiers wait at the airport in Kabul before heading to Arghandab on Tuesday. The Afghan army flew four planeloads of soldiers to Kandahar on Tuesday from  Kabul.
 (The Spokesman-Review)
M. Karim Faiez and Laura King Los Angeles Times

KABUL, Afghanistan – Thousands of frightened villagers fled a district in southern Afghanistan that was overrun by Taliban fighters, as Afghan and NATO forces flew in hundreds of reinforcements on Tuesday to confront the insurgents.

About 700 Afghan troops were airlifted to the main coalition base outside Kandahar after Taliban fighters moved into nearly a dozen villages in the strategic Arghandab district, a fertile swath of land just 10 miles northwest of the southern city. Kandahar was once the spiritual home of the Taliban movement.

Canadian troops, who have the primary responsibility for securing Kandahar and its environs, also were repositioning themselves in response to the developments, said NATO spokesman Mark Laity. He declined to give details about their deployment, citing operational security.

Local officials and villagers said the Taliban, who pushed into the area on Sunday night, were laying mines, blocking roads and culverts and destroying foot bridges, apparently preparing to do battle with arriving Afghan and Western troops.

While the two sides girded for potential confrontation, as many as 4,000 villagers took refuge in Kandahar, despite their reluctance to leave their fields and farms. Arghandab is known for its grapes and pomegranates, which wither in the summer heat without constant care.

Harvest time was to have been later this month.

“The Taliban told families to leave the area,” said shopkeeper Abdul Jalil. “We are afraid of a big fight very soon.”

A Taliban field commander in Arghandab, reached by telephone, boasted that his fighters were determined to hold their positions. He said his force had been bolstered by hundreds of prisoners who escaped Kandahar’s main prison in a Taliban-staged break last week.

Taliban fighters have infiltrated Arghandab before but have dissipated when confronted by Canadian forces. Their numbers then, however, were thought to be smaller than now.