ARGHANDAB, (Afghanistan) June 18 (Reuters): Afghan and Canadian forces moved into a series of villages outside of southern Afghanistan's largest city Wednesday to root out any Taliban who have infiltrated the area, officials said.
Troops exchanged fire with militants during "a few minor contacts" but there were no immediate reports of casualties, NATO spokesman Mark Laity said. Helicopters patrolled the skies and smoke rose from fields after exchanges of fire.
"As of this morning we've expanded operations into Arghandab," Laity said. "Canadian troops are in support" of the Afghan National Army.
Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense on Tuesday said between 300 and 400 militant fighters were operating in Arghandab - a lush region of pomegranate and grape fields that lies 10 miles northwest of Kandahar city, the Taliban's spiritual home.
Canadian military officials who patrolled through Arghandab over the last day reported "no obvious signs" of insurgent activity. But that didn't mean there were no Taliban there, a news release said. Pentagon officials said reports of hundreds of Taliban in Arghandab were being overstated.
But Afghan officials and witnesses said that Taliban fighters destroyed bridges and planted mines after overrunning the Arghandab villages on Monday. Local police said hundreds of farm families have fled, fearing upcoming military operations.
The Taliban have long sought to control Arghandab and the good fighting positions its pomegranate and grape groves offer. With control cemented, militants could cross the countryside's flat plains for probing attacks into Kandahar, in possible preparation for an assault on their former spiritual home.
A report from London adds: Four British soldiers have been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the defence ministry in London said Wednesday.
The four, including one from the Intelligence Corps, died when their vehicle was caught in a blast during what the ministry called "a deliberate operation" east of Laskhar Gah at around 3:40 pm local time Tuesday.
Three were killed in the explosion and two wounded. One of the injured died later at Britain's main base at Camp Bastion, in Helmand Province, the ministry said in a statement. The other soldier was receiving treatment and was in a stable condition.
None of the soldiers' identities was released but their families had been informed.
The deaths brought to 106 the number of British troops who have been killed or died of other causes in Afghanistan since multi-national operations began to oust the country's hardline former rulers the Taliban in late 2001.
