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Fighters moved into the Arghandab district of Kandahar province this week,
about two weeks after the death of a tribal leader, Mullah Naqib, who had k
ept Taliban fighters out of his region. Karzai traveled to Kandahar for Naqib's
funeral.He was a good influence for his tribe. He was supporting the government, " Saqib said of Naqib. "After he died the Taliban were thinking they would go to
Arghandab and cause trouble for Kandahar city. But now they're surrounded
and they're in big trouble."
The gathering of fighters on the doorstep of Kandahar ¡X the Taliban's former
power base ¡X is reminiscent of last year's battle in neighboring Panjwayi district,
one of the biggest fights in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
NATO officials have said hundreds of Taliban tried to overrun Kandahar last year.
But Saqib said he did not believe the militants occupying the villages of
Chaharqulba and Sayedan would attempt a run on Afghanistan's main southern
city."We are capturing and killing them and I don't think it will cause any problem
for Kandahar," he said.
U.S. Humvees and Canadian jeeps crossed Arghandab's countryside on patrols
Wednesday alongside hundreds of Afghans fleeing the area in the middle of |
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