Dawn on the twelfth day of Operation Medusa, Nato’s largest offensive in Afghanistan, was broken by the thud of artillery and the sound of Apache helicopters going into battle.

Throughout the day soldiers on foot combed the area for rebels. Heavy gates to walled compounds were blown open, a warren of Taleban tunnels and bunkers were destroyed by explosives and grenades were thrown into wells and fired through doors.

At times the ground shook and the noise was overpowering. “We are not doing f***ing peacekeeping operations here, we are doing combat operations,” Lieutenant-Colonel Omer H. Lavoie, 40, the commanding officer of the Canadian forces, told The Times, the only British paper to visit the frontline during the fiercest battle since the Taleban was overthrown five years ago.

Finally, after almost two weeks of aerial assaults and a barrage of heavy artillery, his troops seemed to be making progress. But it is gruelling, dangerous work. At least 20 Nato troops have been killed in the battle, and as of Tuesday, Nato claimed to be in control of only 65 per cent of the Panjawyi area, which includes the villages of Pashmul.

In retreat the Taleban had left booby traps and laid landmines. The Canadians also discovered 50 kilograms of nitrogen, used in bomb making.

Fields of wheat, marijuana and poppy burned from the artillery strikes and among the tight mud tracks the Canadians also discovered weapons caches, including rocket propelled grenade launchers.

“I don’t think a lot of my guys thought they would be in an operation of this scale,” said Major Mike Wright, 35, the company commander of A company, the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI).

The area of Pashmul has long been a Taleban stronghold. Mullah Omar, the one-eyed reclusive leader of the ousted regime, was born and spent much of his life here.

It was from the villages around this area that he raised his band of illiterate ideologues, who swept across Afghanistan enforcing their strict version of Sharia.

They banned women from schools and beat men who shaved their beards. Since August about a thousand Taleban have been sheltering in the villages of Pashmul. To reinforce their positions they had even dug trenches.

“There is a trench system 50 meters away from us by the white school. In the period of the last month eight Canadians have been killed in that area,” said Major Wright.

The area was well suited to the defenders even before the trenches were dug.

Captain Max Shields, 27, with the 22nd Regiment, said: “It is outstanding terrain to defend. There is very heavy vegetation, ditches, canals and mud buildings.”

The fields, which provide the Taleban with a ready supply of melons, pomegranate and marijuana, also provide ideal cover. The marijuana bushes grow up to six feet high and provide ideal camouflage. To make matters worse the mud-walled compounds are impenetrable to bullets; only bombs dropped from the air can penetrate them. Over the past two weeks thousands of pounds of bombs have been dropped from the air, destroyed houses are scattered on either side of the mud tracks. The Taleban may have retreated from the villages, but they are not beaten. As we walked in the searing heat from compound to dusty compound there were no bodies and no bloodstains — certainly no evidence of the 600 rebels Nato claimed to have killed. The Canadian soldiers insisted that the Taleban buried their dead as soon as they fell.

During Operation Medusa, despite the high body count, many Taleban have got away and it is feared that they could be heading to Helmand province, where more than 4,000 British troops are based.

“We have good indications a lot of them are going to Helmand. My best guess is some of them have gone to Helmand, others have gone back to Pakistan for good or for the winter,” said Major Wright.

There was also no sign of civilian life, only the odd discarded mattress and a child’s shoe. Nato leaflets dropped from the air advising locals to leave for their safety was followed by hundreds of families.

Abdul Samat 35, a refugee who fled the area, said that he had no choice but to abandon his home and save his children.

“I blame ourselves; how criminal have we been before God to deserve this?,” he asked. “First the Taleban forced their way into our houses and then the coalition bomb us.”

During the Soviet invasion the area of Pashmul was never conquered, despite the the Russians pouring thousands of troops, from some of their best regiments, into the area surrounding Pashmul. “This is an eye-opener,” said Captain Jordan Schaub, 26, the second in command of Alpha company, PPCLI. “You train for this but we didn’t expect such a tempo. Seeing is believing.”

Corporal Miguel Dulac, 22, said: “I speak to a lot of American soldiers and they say this is worse than Iraq. Here they stay and fight.”

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