Scores of families fled their homes in southern Afghanistan today as foreign and Afghan forces prepare to drive out Taliban insurgents who have overrun several villages, officials and witnesses said.
About 600 Taliban insurgents took over several villages in Arghandab district in the south yesterday, days after they had freed hundreds of prisoners, including about 400 militants, after an attack on the main jail in Kandahar city.
"There are hundreds of them (Taliban) with sophisticated weapons. They have blown up several bridges and are planting mines everywhere," Mohammad Usman, a taxi driver who evacuated a family today from the district, told reporters in Kandahar.
Ahmad Wali Karzai, the head of Kandahar's provincial council and a brother of President Hamid Karzai, said about 600 Taliban had positioned themselves in Arghandab district, which lies 20 km (12 miles) to the north of Kandahar city, one of Afghanistan's largest cities.
He did not know if the militants included the 400 set free in the jailbreak.
The development prompted NATO and Afghan forces to deploy troops to seal off the area to drive the militants from the district, which has an estimated population of 150,000.
Nato troops have dropped leaflets by air warning people to leave the district, fleeing villagers said.
The defence ministry said several hundred soldiers would be sent from Kabul by air to Kandahar ahead of the operation and put the total number of Afghan forces on the ground to several thousand.
Haji Agha Lalai, a member of Kandahar's provincial council, said 300 families have left so far and more were leaving their homes.
Witnesses said Afghan troops were stationed in many parts of Kandahar city, the birthplace of the Taliban who US-led troops drove from power in 2001.
Since making a comeback in 2006, the Taliban have briefly taken some district headquarters and villages in the south and east, the militants' stronghold.
The capture of the villages is part of the latest show of power by the militants in Afghanistan, which is suffering its worst spell of violence since 2001.
The flareup comes despite the presence of more than 60,000 foreign forces under the command of the US military and Nato, as well as about 150,000 Afghan forces.
Britain's Defence Secretary Des Browne told parliament yesterday the British government would increase its force in Afghanistan by 230, taking the total number of British troops there to more than 8,000.