KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- NATO has warned residents of villages seized by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan to take cover before an operation is launched to recapture the lost ground.
Aircraft flown by NATO dropped hundreds of leaflets Monday night on several villages near Kandahar that have been seized by the Taliban, officials said, while thousands of extra Afghan troops headed to the region.
The militants, in apparent preparation for an impending military operation, planted mines and destroyed bridges -- and forced villagers to stay and fight alongside them, a tribal elder said.
The planned operation would target villages in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province. It is the same province where 400 Taliban militants escaped from prison in a mass jailbreak Friday.
"ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) supported by ISAF are coming to remove the enemies of Afghanistan," the leaflets read. "Keep your family safe when there is fighting near your home. STAY INSIDE while ANSF defeats the enemies of Afghanistan."
A Defense Ministry statement Tuesday said "most of the 300 to 400 terrorists, who have gathered around Arghandab district, are foreign fighters" and reported a confrontation in the region.
"Today the terrorists approached a police post in the area and through an interpreter asked the forces to surrender, but the terrorists encountered a tooth-smashing response by the forces.
"This shows that most of the destructive actions and terrorist attacks in our country are done by foreigners, who enter Afghanistan from outside of the country" the statement added.
A spokesman with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the operation will primarily be conducted by Afghan police and military.
