Forces Readying to Push Back Taliban

[unhappycamper]

Forces Readying to Push Back Taliban
June 17, 2008
Deutsche Presse-Agentur

KANDAHAR - NATO-led Canadian forces were preparing an offensive on Taliban-held villages in Kandahar province, while insurgents were planting mines and destroying bridges to stop it, officials said June 17.

NATO aircraft dropped leaflets on several villages in Arghanadab district, some 20 kilometers north of Kandahar city, on Monday night warning the villagers to leave the region before the operation to push out the militants, Haji Gholam Farooq, a tribal leader in the district, said.

Up to 500 Taliban fighters captured several villages in the district without resistance on the night of June 15, posing a threat to Kandahar city, and a strategic town that links the capital to southern and western provinces of the country.

Farooq said thousands of local residents were already fleeing the district towards the city.

"The villagers are very worried about the possible airstrikes by the NATO forces," Farooq said.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/forces-readying-to-push-back-taliban.html