Afghan, NATO forces rout Taliban: officials

By Ismail Sameem

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan and NATO-led forces killed or wounded hundreds of Taliban on Thursday in an offensive to clear the militants from the outskirts of Kandahar city, the provincial governor said.

NATO confirmed in a statement issued in Kabul that Taliban fighters, including many believed to have escaped during a mass jail break last week, had been routed from positions among the orchards and farms of Arghandab district, northwest of Kandahar.

On Thursday, Afghan and mostly Canadian forces of NATO's International Security Assistance Force attacked enemy positions, having used helicopter gunships at the start of one of the biggest battles in Afghanistan in recent years.

Earlier NATO had said the offensive, which began on Wednesday, was expected to last until the weekend, and it estimated some 600 Taliban fighters had slipped into the Arghandab valley.

Kandahar provincial governor Assadullah Khalid told a news conference that the Taliban had been driven out, and troops were searching villagers' houses for fighters left behind.

"The Taliban have been cleared totally from Arghandab district," Khalid said.

"They have suffered hundreds of dead and wounded and many of their casualties are Pakistanis," he said.

A Defence Ministry spokesman also said Arghandab district had been retaken, and 56 insurgents killed. Azimi said two Afghan army officers had been killed and two wounded.

NATO said the district was retaken in a statement.

"Afghan and ISAF forces have cleared the Arghandab district and have created a safe and stable environment in the region," it said.

"When Afghan and ISAF units move into the area, they encountered only minor incidents with insurgents and never met or spotted the large numbers of insurgents as claimed."

The Taliban could not be reached immediately for comment.

TYPICALLY TAKE BUT CAN'T HOLD

About 800 Afghan government troops, backed by hundreds of NATO soldiers, are fighting the Taliban insurgents who seized seven villages in the district on Monday.

A Taliban spokesman said the group's objective was to retake Kandahar, the birthplace of the Islamist movement which seized power in 1996 and was ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001.