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| Afghanistan |
| Taliban Militants Take Over Afghan Villages |
| 2008-06-16 |
| KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — 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. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #5 Talibs have occupied About 8-10 villages as per DER SPIEGEL. ALso from DER SPIEGEL > TALIBAN THREATEN NEW WAVE OF PRISON ATTACKS. OTOH, REDDIT > PRISONPLANET - US GAVE GREEN LIGHT TO TALIBAN PRISON [escape]ATTACK. ARTICLE -The USGovt-CIA are the original founders of the Taliban [+ AL Qaeda, etc], + US-LED SECURITY FORCES DID NOT INTERVENE TO STOP PRISON ATTACK. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-06-16 21:37 |
| #4 Tell me again why we can't use a Neutron "surprise"? |
| Posted by: OyVey1 2008-06-16 12:46 |
| #3 Talibunny Miniants |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2008-06-16 11:53 |
| #2 Looks like Hunting Season will start early this year in S. Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: DK70 the Scantily Clad7177 2008-06-16 11:13 |
| #1 Opps -- sorry Fred -- I kinda go locked out and didn't know you had posted this. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2008-06-16 11:01 |