Major Afghan Assault Begins

US, Afghan forces attack Taliban-held Marjah
By Will McCahill,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 12, 2010 6:00 PM CST
Major Afghan Assault Begins
A US Army Black Hawk helicopter takes off at a forward operating base south of Marjah, in southern Afghanistan.   (AP Photo)

The largest US-led offensive in Afghanistan since the 2001 charge that unseated the Taliban is now under way, with Marines and Afghan troops attacking the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah, which they surrounded yesterday. Operation Moshtarak—meaning “together” in the native Dari tongue—could involve as many as 15,000 troops, the BBC reports. Estimates put the number of insurgents in Marjah between 400 and 1,000.
(More Operation Moshtarak stories.)

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