Scores flee amid battle fears in Afghan south

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Scores of families fledtheir homes in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday as foreign andAfghan forces prepare to drive out Taliban insurgents who haveoverrun several villages, officials and witnesses said.

About 600 Taliban insurgents took over several villages inArghandab district in the south on Monday, days after they hadfreed hundreds prisoners, including about 400 militants, afteran attack on the main jail in Kandahar city.

"There are hundreds of them (Taliban) with sophisticatedweapons. They have blown up several bridges and are plantingmines everywhere," Mohammad Usman, a taxi driver who evacuateda family on Tuesday from the district, told reporters inKandahar.

Ahmad Wali Karzai, the head of Kandahar's provincialcouncil and a brother of President Hamid Karzai, said about 600Taliban had positioned themselves in Arghandab district, whichlies 20 km (12 miles) to the north of Kandahar city, one ofAfghanistan's largest cities.

He did not know if the militants included the 400 set freein the jailbreak.

The development prompted NATO and Afghan forces to deploytroops to seal off the area to drive the militants from thedistrict, which has an estimated population of 150,000.

NATO troops have dropped leaflets by air warning people toleave the district, fleeing villagers said.

Haji Agha Lalai, a member of Kandahar's provincial council,said 300 families have left so far and more were leaving theirhomes.

Witnesses said Afghan troops were stationed in many partsof Kandahar city, the birth place of the Taliban who U.S.-ledtroops drove from power in 2001.

Since making a comeback in 2006, the Taliban have brieflytaken some district headquarters and villages in the south andeast, the militants' stronghold.

The capture of the villages is part of the latest show ofpower by the militants in Afghanistan, which is suffering itsworst spell of violence since 2001.

The flare-up comes despite the presence of more than 60,000foreign forces under the command of the U.S. military and NATOas well as about 150,000 Afghan forces.

Defence Secretary Des Browne told parliament on Monday thegovernment would increase its force in Afghanistan by 230,taking the total number of British troops there to more than8,000.

(Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Valerie Lee andDavid Fogarty)