Guide Note
On June 23, 2008, five days after the start of an effort to remove Taliban fighters from a strategic area north of Kandahar, spokesmen for Afghan forces announced that the area was stable.1 The insurgents, many of whom were thought to have escaped from a Kandahar jail in the week prior to the battle, were reportedly routed by Afghan, NATO and Canadian troops.2
Fast Facts
- 100 Taliban fighters confirmed dead3
- 29 captured
- Reports: 300-600 Taliban involved
- Hundreds had broken out of jail
- At least 2 Afghan troops killed
- Over 700 families had fled the area4
- Governor of Kandahar Province, Asadullah Khaled: Hundreds of militants killed and wounded2
Strategic Area
The fighting took place in the Arghandab district, an agricultural area whose orchards are said to provide ample cover for insurgents5—a fact borne out by the heavy casualties suffered there by the Soviets in the 1980s.6
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