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3 000 flee Afghan fighting
25/05/2006 11:59 - (SA)
Kandahar - Up to 3 000 villagers caught in the crossfire of heavy battles between Taliban and security forces in southern Afghanistan have fled their homes, says the International Organisation of Migration.
Most had taken refuge in Kandahar, some arriving destitute and barefoot with their families and a few belongings on trucks, cars and tractors and telling of Taliban death threats on one side and security force shelling and gunfire on the other.
IOM Kandahar programme officer Nasim Karim said: "They are scared, they are terrified.
"If they don't support the Taliban, they are threatened. If they do, then from the other side they are being bombed and shot at. They have no choice."
3 000 people evacuated
The recent fighting had been focused on a collection of villages in Panjwayi, about 35km west of Kandahar city, which had been the focus of three major anti-Taliban operations in the past week.
Karim said that about four to five villages had been evacuated in the area, estimating this would cover between 2 000 and 3 000 people.
He said that the villagers were moving in with relatives and friends in Kandahar. About 25 to 30 families at a camp for internally displaced people in the region had also packed up and moved into the city.
One man from Panjwayi said that he fled after a major coalition strike that started on Sunday until Monday.
Strike claims 16
Abdullah Khan said: "I escaped. I brought my children and women to the city. There are still Taliban in the village so there might be more bombardments."
Officials admitted that the strike left at least 16 civilians dead, but residents said it killed many more, including children.
Villagers said they were bombed while the coalition insisted it only used "precision fire" from fighter planes.
The coalition, which said up to 80 Taliban were killed, said militants took cover in locals' homes, effectively using them as human shields.
'Americans will kill us'
Another displaced man Haji Baqi said: "We're poor people. We can't stop the Taliban taking cover in our home. If we try to stop them, they'll kill us. If we don't, the Americans will kill us."
Baqi also said that Taliban were still in his village.
He said: "I saw them. They were back after the bombardment and were threatening people that if any one reported them to the government, they would be killed."
He said the militants also warned that they would kill anyone who took guns or other belongings from slain rebels, adding that he saw the bodies of several dead Taliban with their guns lying next to them.
Another villager said that he even tried to help a wounded Taliban, but the man refused to climb on board his tractor, which he was using to carry wounded people to hospital in Kandahar.
- AFP
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