KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — Thousands of frightened villagers fled a district in southern Afghanistan that was overrun by Taliban fighters, as Afghan and NATO forces on Tuesday flew in hundreds of reinforcements to confront the insurgents.
Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said early today that its troops had begun an offensive in the Arghandab district, and residents reported hearing exchanges of gunfire. But the scope of the fighting was not immediately clear.
About 700 Afghan troops were airlifted to the main coalition base outside Kandahar after Taliban fighters moved into villages in the strategic district, a fertile swath of land 10 miles northwest of the southern city. Kandahar was once the spiritual home of the Taliban movement.
Canadian troops, who have main responsibility for securing Kandahar and its environs, also were being repositioned in response to the developments, said North Atlantic Treaty Organization 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 Sunday night, were laying mines, blocking roads and culverts and destroying footbridges, apparently preparing to do battle with arriving Afghan and Western troops.
As the two sides readied for 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 late this month.
"The Taliban told families to leave the area," shopkeeper Abdul Jalil said. "We are afraid of a big fight very soon."
A Taliban field commander in Arghandab, reached by telephone, said 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 last week in a Taliban-staged break.
Taliban fighters previously have infiltrated Arghandab but always melted away when confronted by Canadian forces. Their numbers were thought to be smaller then, however.
A spokesman for the NATO-led coalition, Brig. Gen. Carlos Branco, disputed estimates that hundreds of Taliban fighters were in the area. He said troops had patrolled the area Tuesday without encountering resistance.
