Arghandab

(Newser) - The US troops patrolling the Arghandab River area in southern Afghanistan have one of the most arduous tasks of the war: winning the support of the locals in a region where the Taliban is gaining strength. Hal Bernton of McClatchy Newspapers checks in with the soldiers of Bravo Company and...

(Newser) - Yesterday's swift offensive by Afghan and NATO forces drove Taliban militants from a strategic group of villages outside southern Afghanistan's largest city and killed 56 insurgents, Afghan officials said today. The Afghan National Army has taken control of the villages, a defense ministry spokesman said, but militants had planted hundreds...

(Newser) - Afghan and NATO troops launched a huge offensive against the Taliban today, Reuters reports, starting with an air and ground assault on a valley in southern Afghanistan. Bolstered with hundreds of fighters freed in last week’s prison break, the Taliban has taken several villages in Arghandab, and has its...