KANDAHAR — Beyond certain neighbourhoods in Kandahar City, Southern Afghanistan is still very much under the influence of the Taliban.

Pashtun tribal leaders readily tell foreign reporters that outside the urban centres, insurgents enjoy outright freedom. They walk through villages with ease, collecting food and taxes from local farmers. They bring in weapons on well-worn routes from Pakistan.

Four years after the Taliban government was toppled, few in the lawless South even recognize Afghanistan's national government, not to mention its southern-born leader, Hamid Karzai.

In a bid to regain control, coalition forces have launched the single largest deployment of troops since 2001. Called Operation Mountain Thrust, 11,000 soldiers from such countries like Canada, Britain, and the U.S. are pushing deep into insurgent sanctuaries.

"The goal is to root out the Taliban wherever we can find them, eradicate their presence... so the Taliban won't be crawling back after we've left," said Maj. Mario Couture, a Canadian military spokesperson.

More than 3,500 Afghan soldiers and police have joined in the operation. They are leading the charge, and have been asked to stay to provide security in these lawless regions.

"The key will be leaving a permanent presence there," said Col. Chris Vernon, a British miliary officer who is second-in-command of the Multinational Brigade.

"What we would want to try and do is leave capable police stations and capable police bases and Afghan national army in these areas."

Re-arming militias

But with hundreds of Afghan soldiers and officers injured and killed in recent months, there are simply not enough numbers to keep a presence throughout Southern Afghanistan.

And so the Karzai government is planning to re-arm local militias. It's a controversial move in a country where warring tribal factions are blamed for years of civil war. International military commanders privately question how effective such a move would be.

"I'd rather sort of stay out of that," said Vernon. "What we want to focus on are those who have been enlisted in the Afghan national army. I think that's where the future clearly lies."

Commanders also quietly tell us that this mission is making up for the mistakes of the past. In 2001 when the Taliban government fell, there were not enough U.S. forces to maintain a presence in the area, and so over five years, insurgents returned, filling the security vacuum.

The operation will not be all that different from what Canadian forces have been doing over the past few months. Companies of soldiers are sweeping villages for insurgents, then trying to win over the local population.

Reconstruction teams made up of civilian military personnel are also helping to rebuild schools, wells, and mosques wherever needed.

The ultimate goal is to convince Afghans that coalition forces are not there to occupy, but are offering to help create a peaceful country, run by the current government.

In the north of Kandahar province, Canadian troops aided by the Dutch have established the Forward Operating base of Camp Martello. Capt. Damon Tedford of "Alpha-company" says despite months of fierce fighting, and temperatures of more than 50 degrees Celsius, Canadian soldiers are ready for the new mission.

"The guys are keen to get out and meet the people, work with them and get out in the hills and find the Taliban."

Operation Mountain Thrust is expected to last for weeks. But military commanders are under no illusions, predicting it will be several more years before it becomes clear whether the insurgency can be quelled.

In May alone, the insurgency claimed more than 400 lives. 900 have been killed since the beginning of 2006. Not since 2001 has the world seen such heavy casualties in Afghanistan.