Taliban fighters take over several Afghan villages

[Spring Onion]

Taliban fighters take over several Afghan villages

By NOOR KHAN – 1 hour ago

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Hundreds of Taliban fighters took over several villages in southern Afghanistan on Monday just outside the region's largest city, and NATO and Afghan forces were redeploying to meet the threat, officials said.

Mohammad Farooq, the government leader in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province, said around 500 Taliban fighters moved into his district and took over several villages.

Arghandab lies just north of Kandahar city — the Taliban's former stronghold — and a tribal leader from the region warned that the militants could use the cover from Arghandab's grape and pomegranate orchards to mount an attack on Kandahar itself.

"All of Arghandab is made of orchards. The militants can easily hide and easily fight," said Haji Ikramullah Khan. "It's quite close to Kandahar. During the Russian war, the Russians didn't even occupy Arghandab, because when they fought here they suffered big casualties."

The push into Arghandab comes three days after a sophisticated Taliban attack on Kandahar's prison that freed hundreds of insurgent fighters being held there.

NATO spokesman Mark Laity said NATO and Afghan military officials were redeploying troops to the region to "meet any potential threats."

"It's fair to say that the jailbreak has put a lot of people (militants) into circulation who weren't there before, and so obviously you're going to respond to that potential threat," he said.

Two powerful anti-Taliban leaders from Arghandab have died in the last year, weakening the region's defenses. Mullah Naqib, the district's former leader, died of a heart attack last year. Taliban fighters moved into Arghandab en masse last October, two weeks after his death, but left within days after hundreds of security forces were deployed there.

A second leader, police commander Abdul Hakim Jan, died in a massive suicide bombing in Kandahar in February that killed more than 100 people.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces killed 35 militants in two skirmishes in the south, the coalition said Monday.

Twenty militants were killed in Zabul province after they attacked a combined patrol with rockets, mortars and gunfire. The combined forces returned fire and called in airstrikes against the insurgents in the Sunday battle.

Fifteen militants were killed in the Sangin area of Helmand province Saturday after a group of men in a treeline fired on Afghan and coalition troops. Two hours of fighting ensued, and military aircraft were again called in.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in insurgent violence in Afghanistan this year, according to Afghan and Western officials.



The Associated Press: Taliban fighters take over several Afghan villages

 

[Spring Onion]

Hmmmm one can understand now the frustration of Mr puppet Karzai

come come Mr Karzai attack Pakistan and leave your donka to Taliban so that they kick you hard one by one

 

[Spring Onion]

Taliban seize Afghan villages


Taliban fighters have taken control of 10 villages in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province in Afghanistan, and have said they plan to march towards Kandahar city.

Mohammad Farooq, a government official in Arghandab, said on Monday that around 500 Taliban fighters moved into the area and took over the villages.



Arghandab lies 30km north of Kandahar city.

Haji Ikramullah Khan, a tribal leader from the region warned that the fighters could use the cover of the district's grape and pomegranate orchards to mount an attack on Kandahar itself.






Launching pad

"All of Arghandab is made of orchards. The fighters can easily hide and easily fight," he said.

"It is quite close to Kandahar. During the Russian war, the Russians didn't even occupy Arghandab, because when they fought here they suffered big casualties."


The Taliban offensive follows the escape of more than 1000 Taliban and other prisoners in a suicide attack on the main jail in the southern city of Kandahar on Friday night, which also left many prison guards dead.

Mark Laity, a Nato spokesman, said that Nato and Afghan military officials were redeploying troops to the region to "meet any potential threats".

"It's fair to say that the jailbreak has put a lot of people [fighters] into circulation who were not there before, and so obviously you're going to respond to that potential threat," he said.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Kandahar, said that hundreds of Taliban fighters are taking up positions in the area and taking over nearby villages.

"Ultimately, it is local residents who are paying a heavy price for this increasing instability," he said.

"The Taliban are showing impressive capability in manoeuvring in and around the area."


Child killed

In other violence in Afghanistan, a 12-year-old child was killed by a roadside bomb, while a baby and a woman have been wounded in an air raid by US-led forces in the east of the country.

An interior ministry statement said on Monday the student was on his way to school in the Yaqoubi district of eastern Khost province when he was killed a day earlier.

A roadside blast also struck an Afghan army vehicle in the Girishk district of southern Helmand province on Sunday, wounding two soldiers, police said.

In the US-led air raid against Taliban fighters in the Arghandab district of southern Zabul province, two armed men were killed, police said.

"Coalition aircraft targeted a Taliban position as part of the same operation which wounded a woman and a child," police said.


Both wounded were receiving treatment in hospital, he said.


The violence came after Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, sparked a major row with neighbouring Pakistan by threatening to launch attacks on fighters allegedly hiding in Pakistani territory.

The Taliban have stepped up an insurgency against Karzai's US-backed government since being removed from power in late 2001, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives.


Al Jazeera English - News - Taliban Seize Afghan Villages

 

[Tang0]

I doubt they are going to stick around for long, they know what happens if lightly armed troops hang around a wait for NATO armor and air power to show up. Still though, a very well planned operation, and a significant political blow. You can loose all the battles and still win the war. NATO needs to react quickly to catch them before they disperse to regain the propaganda high ground.

 

[Comet]

Well Karzai's comment of sending troop to Pakistan are so humorous. He can't afford to kill a fly in Kabul and yet look at his guts.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Seizing villages is no big deal actually.

Mehsud has done that himself and so had the Radio Mullah.

It is because it is their area and so fortifying your own area is not difficult. Yes, if it were with the opposing forces and then taken, that would be seizing!

Who can not take over a vacant house and claim it as theirs?

Journalistic skullduggery at its best.

Choro, Mat Maro or Choro Mat, Maro!!

 

[Interceptor]

@ Ice Cold.
Easy man. Remember if a Dog barks at you don't simply bark right back at it instead you use different approach.

Why not just ignore the dogs bark, and instead focus on other objectives.

 

[roadrunner]

Seizing villages is no big deal actually.

Mehsud has done that himself and so had the Radio Mullah.

It is because it is their area and so fortifying your own area is not difficult. Yes, if it were with the opposing forces and then taken, that would be seizing!

Who can not take over a vacant house and claim it as theirs?

Journalistic skullduggery at its best.

Choro, Mat Maro or Choro Mat, Maro!!

It is a big deal, if Musa Qala rings any bells, these aren't empty villages. There's a problem in Afghanistan, ignoring it won't help. These Taliban forces have reached as far west as Herat. Some of it is their own territory though.

 

[Interceptor]

It is a big deal, if Musa Qala rings any bells, these aren't empty villages. There's a problem in Afghanistan, ignoring it won't help. These Taliban forces have reached as far west as Herat. Some of it is their own territory though.

Taliban, these are mercenaries, it all comes down to who pays the right price. The US went in Afghanistan before the war and bought out most of the enemy and then entered safety.

 

[asaad-ul-islam]

some dogs need to be spayed and neutered.

wonder if pakistan has anything to do with this?

 

[blain2]

Taliban, these are mercenaries, it all comes down to who pays the right price. The US went in Afghanistan before the war and bought out most of the enemy and then entered safety.

What if Taliban are simply the "Pashtuns"? The reality is that the Taliban of the past are no longer in charge. Its the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taliban was a small movement under Mullah Omar (who is nowhere in sight or command).

For as long as the term Taliban is used to understand this phenomena, the world will continue to get confused and misled (for some it actually serves their purpose if they keep the term "Pashtun" out of the equation and use "Taliban" which makes it sound like this is a movement of only extremist crackpots. For obvious reasons, talking about a "Pashtun" insurgency would bring about questions of lack of representation in the Afghan government which many of Afghanistan's warlords and the Panjsheri mafia may not want.

 

[araz]

It is interesting that 2 incursions by the top 2 world powers have not tamed them down and one has been defeated while the other lingers on but for howw long nobody knows. At the moment they are again active in provincial villages and as soon as the NATO forces recede they are back in action again.
Araz

 

[su-47]

It is interesting that 2 incursions by the top 2 world powers have not tamed them down and one has been defeated while the other lingers on but for howw long nobody knows. At the moment they are again active in provincial villages and as soon as the NATO forces recede they are back in action again.
Araz

there is a reason why it is very hard to defeat the mujahideen, and in fact, any other defenders. it can be summed up in one word: determination. if you take a look at the casuality figures in the afghan war, you'll find that the taliban have suffered terrible number of casualities, several times more than NATO troops. yet they are far from defeated. that is because the taliban are determined, and willing to suffer casualities. NATO on the other hand, gets shaken up every time a handful of soldiers die.

history has proven that it is very difficult to defeat an enemy in his homeland. nazis vs soviets, usa vs vietnam, soviets vs taiban, israel vs hezbollah are but a few examples. in all the above cases, the defenders suffered much more casualities than the attackers, and yet came out triumphant.

the taliban's greatest strength is their disregard for their losses. if they werewary of losses, they would have surrendered in about 2 weeks after the afghan war started.