Warned of the operation, the Taliban planted bombs, using in particular the banks of the area's network of irrigation canals.

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Located 55km north of Graaff-Reinet along a gravel road through the Sneeuberg (Snow Mountains), the remote village of Nieu Bethesda has a spring-fed network of irrigation channels, giving it the appearance of a green oasis.

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Past fields of sugar cane and a network of narrow irrigation ditches, a narrow pass leads to a flat area surrounded by hills.

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Mr Khan says that the effect has not only been to wipe out this year's crops, but because of damage to the irrigation network, next season's crops will be lost too.

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