Hunting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan

By Finbarr O'Reilly

SANGSAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The grinding metallic noise of tanks and diesel engines fade into the desert night and the only sound is our breathing and the crunch of dozens of army boots on dry earth.

It feels like we are alone in the barren, moonlit landscape, but we're not. Somewhere out there lurk the Taliban.

A cacophony of barking floats through the heavy air as dogs from nearby mud villages pick up our scent.

Foreign troops from the NATO-led coalition and the Afghan National Army (ANA) are on the hunt for Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province.

It is a strategic point in the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban drug smuggling routes into neighbouring Pakistan.

As a photographer embedded with Canadian troops, I tag along for combat missions.

"When the shooting starts, your heart rate will go up to two or three times its normal rate," says a medic, explaining the body's and mind's reactions to combat.

Covering Africa for six years, I've experienced conflicts, armed clashes and civil unrest before, but I've never marched directly into battle with a unit intent on engaging the enemy.