Troops in Kandahar, as official says Taliban preparing for battle

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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SHOTLIST 1. Wide of army soldiers stopping vehicle for search 2. Soldier searching man 3. Close of army soldier 4. Wide of checkpoint 5. Armed soldiers standing by 6. Close of machine gun 7. Canadian NATO soldier speaking to Afghan troops 8. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Sardar Mohammad, Afghan police officer: "There are more than five hundred Taliban in the Arghandab region. They are planting mines. Now Afghan army and police, with the help of Canadian and American forces, have surrounded these areas and are set to launch a military operation against the Taliban." 9. Close of Canadian NATO soldier 10. Canadian NATO soldier speaking to Afghan troops STORYLINE Taliban militants destroyed bridges and planted mines in several villages they control outside southern Afghanistan's largest city in apparent preparation for battle, residents and officials said on Tuesday. More than 700 families - meaning perhaps four thousand people or more - had fled the Arghandab district 15 kilometres (10 miles) northwest of Kandahar city, said Sardar Mohammad, a police officer manning a checkpoint on the east side of the Arghandab River. Police on Tuesday stopped and searched people passing on the road. On the west side of the river, hundreds of Taliban controlled around nine or 10 villages, police said. The Afghan army flew four planeloads of soldiers to Kandahar from the capital, Kabul, on Tuesday. Canadian and US forces have also moved into the region. "There are more than five hundred Taliban in the Arghandab region. They are planting mines," Mohammad told AP Television. "Now Afghan army and police, with the help of Canadian and American forces, have surrounded these areas and are set to launch a military operation against the Taliban," he explained. NATO aircraft dropped leaflets in the Arghandab area telling residents to stay indoors, a NATO spokesman said. The spokesman said 700 Afghan army troops have moved from Kabul to Kandahar to deal with the Arghandab threat. The Taliban assault on Monday on villages just outside Kandahar was the latest display of strength by the militants despite a record number of US and NATO troops in the country. The push into Arghandab district came three days after a coordinated Taliban attack on Kandahar's prison that freed 400 insurgent fighters. A purported Taliban commander named Mullah Ahmedullah called an Associated Press reporter on Tuesday and said that around 400 Taliban moved into Arghandab from Khakrez, one district to the north. He said some of the militants released in Friday's prison break had joined the assault. The hardline Taliban regime ousted from power in a 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan regarded Kandahar as its main stronghold, and its insurgent supporters are most active in the volatile south of the country. The US and NATO have pleaded for additional troops over the last year and now have some 65-thousand in the country. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/cc22f97521fb128a4aba4ef36d6e2179 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork