User:Sherurcij/Kandahar

The Battle of Kandahar (Operation IBRAT to the insurgents )began in June 2008, when Afghan insurgents attacked the Sarposa Prison in a co-ordinated assault which killed 16 police guarding the prison, and freed the 1200 prisoners, approximately a third of whom were believed to have past ties to the insurgency. Coalition forces swept the area for escaped convicts, leading to the deaths of 15 militants in an air strike against a farm.

In the following days, it was widely reported that 8-18 towns surrounding Kandahar had been overrun by Afghan militants, and that approximately 500 insurgents had moved into the neighbouring Arghandab district 15km north of the city, to make use of its grape and pomegranate groves to conceal themselves while they prepared to re-take Kandahar. The insurgents warned locals to flee the area before heavy fighting began, while Coalition planes dropped leaflets suggesting that civilians remain indoors. On June 16, Afghan National Army (ANA) and Coalition forces conducted a five-hour patrol through the area, and reported that they had seen no sign of an insurgent build-up and that any reports suggesting otherwise were "unfounded".

Build-up
Despite reassurances a battle was not looming, Canadians called an emergency meeting with ANA allies on June 16, and the following day coalition forces flew 700 ANA troops from Kabul into the region on June 17, as hundreds of civilians fled the area, and Canadian Forces reported a small gunbattle with insurgents on the outskirts of the city.

Afghan insurgents destroyed culverts and bridges around Kandahar, while planting minefields in an attempt to limit Coalition mobility. Insurgents began sending shipments of weapons and ammunition into their neighbouring towns, while Taliban commander Mullah Ahmedullah suggested that the insurgents were waiting for the NATO-led forces to make the first move.

Canadian soldiers increased their presence at "high-risk" targets in Kandahar, including a power station, the residence of governor Ahmed Wali Karzai, Sarposa Prison and their own reconstruction base. A 2200H curfew was placed on vehicles in the city.

Akhtar Mohammad, who had been among the escapees from the Sarposa Prison, reported that he was among approximately 200 insurgents in Zhari, preparing to enter Aghandab in advance of the battle.