"When the Taliban were here, I escaped to the border with Iran but I was never worried about my family, " he said. "Every single minute of the last three years I have been very worried. Maybe tonight the Americans will come to my house, molest my wife and children, and arrest me."

Last week president Hamid Karzai acknowledged for the first time that he had held talks with the Taliban in attempts to reach a peace deal and avert a bloody struggle for control in the south and east of the country, where the movement has enjoyed a resurgence in the past year. The failure of Nato forces to deliver security and development, and rising civilian casualties inflicted by western forces in their clashes with the Taliban, has led to a loss of support in Kandahar's dusty streets. "How can we forgive the Americans?" asked Karigar, who, like most here, does not distinguish among the different elements in Nato. "I will fight them any way I can."

The majority of forces in Kandahar province are Canadian, with a British commander, Major General "Jacko" Page, about to assume responsibility for the whole of southern Afghanistan at a time when a renewed Taliban offensive is thought to be imminent.

The Taliban failed last year to carry out its threat to seize back Kandahar, its former stronghold, and Nato insists the movement can never win a military victory against it, even if many Afghans believe it is possible. But the occupiers have lost crucial support in the city, now one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan.

Political and criminal violence spread fear among the population and most avoid going out after dark, when the only sounds are the helicopters flying overhead and the odd burst of gunfire in the streets. Suicide attacks are common and several times in recent months nervous Nato troops have shot civilians they mistakenly believed were about to blow themselves up.

Whatever the cause of the bloodshed, locals almost always blame it on the foreign soldiers in their midst, and even moderate Afghans are openly declaring they will join the insurgency.

People in Kandahar associate the Taliban with security. Before the 2001 invasion, they say, they could walk the streets safely as long as they complied with the movement's strict interpretation of Islamic law. Now even a simple outing to the local market is seen as a risk.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force denies the insurgency is gaining strength. "Most polling data shows only about 5% of the people actually support the Taliban extremists, " said a spokesman, who insisted fighting in Kandahar province was a result of foreign and local troops "extending the reach of the legitimate government" to militant strongholds.

But a recent poll of men in Kandahar and Helmand found that Taliban support among civilians had jumped to nearly 27%. In southern Afghanistan, said the report, people "are increasingly prepared to admit their support for the Taliban, and the belief that the government and the international community will not be able to defeat the Taliban is widespread".