Afghan police lose ground previously won by Canadians

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http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=278f596a-b60e-4e78-b3ec-9c6c00838e11&k=10796

HOWZ-E-MADAD, Afghanistan -- Leaning on his rickety bicycle at the side of the road, Ainadeen shrugs when asked where the explosions came from. All he knows is that they kept coming, which is why he and other villagers fled to the relative calm of the desert.

“The police couldn’t provide security here,” said Ainadeen, who like many Afghans goes by a single name.

Around last Christmas, Canadian Forces rolled into this sparse but strategically located village without much resistance from the Taliban.

But now, residents and local police officials say a small cell of Taliban fighters has entrenched itself in the grape fields behind the crumbling mud walls.

As recently as last month, in fact, the black-and-white flag of the Taliban could be seen flying above the village. Until Canadian combat engineers arrived this week to build a new security outpost, Taliban fighters and police engaged in daily firefights, said the village’s deputy police chief, Hafiz Ullah.

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1. What a shame the US went into Iraq and left Afghanistan to wither in parts under the Taliban

again.