Taliban take over villages outside Kandahar

[unhappycamper]

Taliban take over villages outside Kandahar
By Noor Khan and Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jun 17, 2008 5:45:23 EDT

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Hundreds of Taliban fighters invaded villages just outside Afghanistan’s second-largest city Monday, forcing NATO and Afghan troops to rush in and frightened residents to flee.

The Taliban assault on the outskirts of Kandahar was the latest display of prowess by the militants despite a record number of U.S. and NATO troops in the country.

The push into Arghandab district — a lush region filled with grape and pomegranate groves that the Soviet army could never conquer — comes three days after a Taliban attack on Kandahar’s prison that freed 400 insurgent fighters.

Those fighters, NATO conceded Monday, appear to now be massing on the doorstep of the Taliban’s former powerbase. Kandahar city lies just 10 miles to the southeast.

The sophisticated and successful jailbreak, followed by the movement into Arghandab, is the latest evidence of the growing strength of the Taliban militants, whose hard-line Islamist regime was ousted from power in the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/ap_taliban_afghanistan_061608/