U.S. soldiers in the area around Kandahar in southern Afghanistan have demolished hundreds of houses because of booby traps, local officials say.
In some villages, retreating Taliban have left explosive devices in most of the buildings, The New York Times reported Tuesday. In those situations, entire villages have been blown up by air strikes.
"We don't know the accurate number of homes destroyed, but it's huge," said Zalmai Ayubi, the spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, Tooryalai Wesa. "It's the insurgents and the
enemy of the country that are to blame for this destruction, because they have planted mines in civilian houses and main roads everywhere."
The military has been trying to record the loss of all houses, farm buildings and even structures like grape arbors so the owners can receive compensation, the Times said. The military's demolition tools include armored bulldozers, explosives and air strikes.
Col. Hans Bush, a press aide to Gen. David Petraeus, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, said Explosive Ordinance Disposal teams can deal with minor booby-trapping.
"The buildings in question posed a threat to everyone in the area since they were rigged with explosives and booby-trapped in a way to prevent EOD personnel from rendering them safe," he said.