More Afghans flee as battle looms

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.

But villagers’ accounts appeared to bear out the presence of a substantial Taliban fighting force, and the Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement that 300 to 400 “terrorists” had moved into Arghandab.

Villagers and Afghan journalists who visited the area also said they saw only a smattering of Canadian and Afghan troops on the district’s edges, and that Taliban fighters, though present, appeared to be lying low.

Control of the district, which is bisected by the Arghandab River, is seen as crucial to the security of Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city. Taliban forces control most of the area to the west of the river, where groves and vineyards provide ample cover, local officials said. On the eastern side of the river, Afghan forces set up checkpoints and enforced a curfew. People bound for Kandahar, many in battered trucks piled high with belongings, were stopped and searched.

Arghandab has been seen as vulnerable to infiltration since the deaths of two local leaders who had helped prevent the Taliban from moving in.

A mayor, Kalimullah, said the Taliban district commander had summoned tribal elders Tuesday to a meeting. Taliban commanders often attempt to secure the cooperation of residents, either through threats or negotiations.

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laura.king@latimes.com

Special correspondent Faiez reported from Kabul and Times staff writer King from Istanbul, Turkey.