One week after hundreds of Taliban fighters escaped in a daring prison break, villagers in an Afghanistan district are just beginning to return to their homes in the aftermath of a significant battle between insurgents and coalition forces.
NATO troops tried to downplay the size of the Taliban uprising, but Afghan government officials took reporters to see piles of rotting corpses, some that were missing limbs.
The allies mounted the offensive against the Taliban on Wednesday after the insurgents seized the fertile Arghandab valley, located some 20 kilometres northwest of Kandahar.
Hundreds of militants, including some who escaped during a jailbreak from prison in Kandahar, took up positions in a cluster of villages, officials said.
The Taliban's advance on the region was seen as worrisome because it could be used as a springboard to attack Kandahar City.
It is believed that the Taliban purposely chose the area for a pitched battle because it is full of lush, dense orchards and has a winding valley to provide cover for fighters holed up around a river.
Villagers told CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer that the Taliban just emerged one night and took over the village mosque.
A farmer said that the villagers don't support the Taliban -- but they don't support the coalition forces either.
Villagers began returning Friday -- some 700 families fled before the battle. Many were concerned about damage to their homes and properties and farmers worried of their livestock left behind.
The battle
Afghan officials said 56 Taliban died in the fighting, along with two Afghan soldiers and one civilian.
NATO spokesman Brig.-Gen. Carlos Branco said the fighting was over by early Thursday.
He said that the battle only had small ground skirmishes, although some "very limited" air strikes were also called in.
The Afghan army has assumed, at least on the surface, control of the region. French troops are in the process of taking over from Canadian battle groups.
A senior Canadian officer said that insurgents made their strength out to be more than it really was.
"They get more foreign fighters when they have more money," Lt. Col. Daniel Drewadded. "They get a bit bolder, get more weapons."
The clean up
Canada's top civilian official in Afghanistan has said that Canada will help repair damage to civilian property after this week's battle between coalition forces and the Taliban in the Arghandab district.
Elissa Golberg said that a school, residential walls and some culverts were damaged, but that coalition soldiers were trying to avoid damaging civilian property in the battle.
"Right now we're doing an assessment to determine the extent to which there may be any damage," Golberg said at a news conference.
Canada would also continue its work to build a large bridge, schools, roads and irrigation systems in the area, Golberg added.
On Friday, Canadian troops were already assisting in the clean up, using a controlled explosion to destroy a roadside bomb leftover by the Taliban.
In Kandahar City, some residents called the city eerily quiet Friday as many citizens were worried about the massive jailbreak and that murderers and rapists were still on the loose.
With a report from CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer, and files from The Canadian Press and the Associated Press
