SHAH WALI KOT, Feb 6: A lost valley of Taliban loyalists armed and ready to defend their cause has been found in the remote mountains of southern Afghanistan by soldiers on a peacekeeping mission, officials said on Thursday.

Haji Abdul Wahab, the governor of Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province, said villagers in the almost inaccessible Almish valley had been abandoned by their leaders and, cut off from the outside world, remained steadfastly behind the fallen government.

“Some Afghan soldiers went to the area as part of a disarmament programme. They came into this remote valley and found these people who did not want to give up their weapons without a fight,” Wahab told AFP.

“It seems they were Taliban whose leaders had long since escaped. They have been cut off from any kind of support, so maybe they don’t know what’s going on.”

Wahab said the valley was 12-hours drive from Shah Wali Kot’s administrative headquarters, which is 15 kilometres north of Kandahar.

He said it fell on the cusp of Shah Wali Kot and two other districts, Miana Shin and Mizan.

Earlier, Kandahar deputy governor Khan Mohammad said at least five Taliban extremists and three Afghan soldiers had been killed in initial clashes between the disarmament party and the villagers.

Khan, also Kandahar’s military chief, said he was confident his men would quickly overwhelm the fighters.

Wahab said he had no further information from the scene of the fighting, but added that he understood there was only light weaponry involved.

“These people are all villagers from the area, they are not from the outside. They are small people armed with a few Kalashnikov rifles, they have been left behind after the leaders have gone.”

Wahab said US troops, which have made Kandahar their second largest base in Afghanistan, were aware of the fighting, but were not involved.

“They are operating in Shah Wali Kot, but only on routine patrols,” he said.

Last week heavy fighting erupted around 80 kilometres southeast of Kandahar between US-led troops and extremists. Heavy bombing by US and Norwegian warplanes resulted in the deaths of at least 18 rebels.

US troops Wednesday wrapped up an eight-day hunt of a massive mountain cave complex where the rebels had been holed up. The caves were believed to form the base for supporters of the anti-government Hezb-i-Islami.

Last week’s clash at Adi Ghar was the biggest encounter involving American troops in Afghanistan since the massive Operation Anaconda in March 2002. Washington says the 17-day offensive devastated al-Qaeda and Taliban’s middle ranking leadership.

The US military says Hezb-i-Islami, led by renegade Afghan former premier Gulbduddin Hekmatyar, is in league with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, who are seeking fresh allies.

All three extremist groups have also been linked by Kandahar security officials to a massive landmine explosion to the south of Kandahar which killed nine people last Friday. Eight people have been arrested over the blast. —AFP