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.
A Canadian soldier stands on alert at a joint checkpoint in Arghandab district, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday.
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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 said the operation will primarily be conducted by Afghan police and military.
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General Zahir Azimi, a defense ministry spokesman, said thousands of Afghan troops -- with reinforcement from the capital Kabul -- were headed to the area to push out the militants, with the deployment completed by Wednesday.
ISAF is an alliance of about 40 nations charged with supporting the Afghan government. It will provide support, such as dropping leaflets and gathering intelligence, said General Carlos Branco.
"We're saying to them to stay inside, to stay home. Not leave the area," Branco said. "We don't want a humanitarian crisis to be caused without any credible reason."
About 400 to 500 Taliban militants were seen streaming into the district late Sunday night on motor bikes and pickups.
In contrast to reports from locals, the Pentagon said Tuesday that U.S. troops have seen no spike in Taliban control.
"The commanders on the ground are telling us that their patrols have seen no sign of increased Taliban control of any areas and yet I know that press reports are saying otherwise," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. "I defer to the commanders in this case."
Morrell attributed increased violence to the fact that summer is "traditional fighting season" in Afghanistan and said the perceived Taliban threat has been exaggerated.
"There still is a formidable Taliban opponent that we need to take on in Afghanistan but any reports which suggest that they have somehow gained a footing around Kandahar and are preparing to take that city are way overblown at this point," Morrell said.
Foot patrols Tuesday in parts of Kandahar province saw no signs of Taliban resistance or control, Morrell said.
Reports varied on the number of villages the Taliban seized -- some locals said the militants took five villages while others put the number at 13. The villages are about 20 km (12 miles) north of Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold, and near the prison.
"The people are with us. They want us here," Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousif Ahmadi told CNN by phone from an undisclosed location. "Now the Afghan and NATO forces are trying to defend Kandahar city. We have control of the whole district."
But Branco, the ISAF spokesman, denied the reports of rebel control. "We have no ground truth that the Taliban has taken over villages in the area," he said. "There is no evidence of large concentrations of insurgents."
The U.S.-led coalition said that a national police and coalition troop patrol on Tuesday in Arghandab "moved freely and met no resistance."
"The threat of militant activity still exists throughout the province, but the patrol found no indication that militants have overwhelming strength in the Arghandab area," the coalition added.
Haji Aka Jan, a tribal elder in the district, said NATO aircraft dropped hundreds of leaflets Monday night. He also said militants planted mines and destroyed bridges in the villages.
One of the mines exploded prematurely Tuesday morning, killing two insurgents trying to plant them, said Qader Khan, a police official in the area.
The prison break and rush of Taliban caused locals to flee, said Norine MacDonald, president of the Senlis Council, a think tank that is based in Kandahar.
"Hundreds of people are moving out to get away from the fighting," said MacDonald. "Things are getting worse by the day, by the minute."
MacDonald said she has heard from locals that the Taliban had taken villages by positioning heavily armed fighters on the streets and telling village leaders that the Taliban has taken control.
If the militants are not rooted out, they will try to create their own government, MacDonald said.
But pushing the Taliban out would be difficult, MacDonald said.
"It is extremely difficult to chase these guys out of the villages when they are not wearing uniforms that say 'I am the Taliban,' " MacDonald said. "They can just put down their guns and blend in. NATO may have to decide to bomb and that could bring civilian casualties."
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