18,000 U.S. Troops Begin Afghan Offensive
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The 18,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan have begun a new offensive to hunt Taliban and al-Qaida militants through the country's harsh winter, aiming to sap their strength ahead of planned spring elections, the American military said Saturday.
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U.S. soldiers descended on a mountain ridge Sunday, quickly setting up fortified posts and mortar positions overlooking a key Taliban transport route as the coalition pressed a major offensive that has killed dozens of suspected militants.
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NATO-led security forces have launched a major offensive against the Taliban and drug traffickers in southern Afghanistan, the military alliance's regional commander said in a statement on Tuesday.
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NATO launched its biggest offensive in Afghanistan since the 2001 war on Tuesday, targetting the Taliban and drug lords as hundreds of people rallied in the east against U.S. soldiers killing civilians.
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About 18,000 American troops have started a winter-long operation against Taliban rebels in Afghanistan, vowing to eliminate insurgents who could threaten parliamentary elections slated for the spring.
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U.S. forces in Afghanistan vowed on Wednesday to bolster security in the volatile south and southeast ahead of a landmark election, as Taliban guerrillas bent on disrupting the poll launched a fresh wave of attacks.
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About 2,500 troops launched a new operation against Islamic rebels in one of Afghanistan&#39;s most volatile areas Wednesday as 25 people were reported killed in fresh Taliban-linked violence.
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A plan approved Thursday to extend NATO's military control across all of Afghanistan would put as many as 12,000 U.S. troops under foreign battlefield command, a number that U.S. officials said could be the most since World War II.
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LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan  - British-led forces launched a major operation in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, aiming to clear Taliban insurgents from a valley in Helmand -- the most violent province in the country.
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The United States raised  pressure on NATO allies on Thursday to rush more troops to  Afghanistan to crush an expected Taliban offensive, saying the  coming weeks would be key in battling the insurgency.
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Thousands of U.S. soldiers are preparing an operation against Taliban insurgents to preempt an expected spring offensive which could upset plans for Afghan parliamentary elections, a senior American general said in an interview Tuesday.
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The United States pressed its NATO allies to begin military planning for possibly taking over command of operations in Afghanistan from US forces as early as next year.
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Thousands of American and Afghan troops unleashed a new offensive against Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday in an effort to expand the government's reach into the volatile Pakistani border region.
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NATO began its spring offensive against the Taliban on Tuesday, launching its biggest attacks since the 2001 war on Taliban rebels and Afghan drug lords.
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NATO launched its largest offensive since 2001 in an effort to preempt a Taliban attack.
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Afghan and NATO forces launched a ground and air search operation Friday for an Afghan passenger jet carrying 104 people that disappeared from radar screens during a snowstorm near the mountain-ringed capital. Three Americans were believed to have been on board.
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Thousands of Afghan and foreign security forces kicked off a major new offensive against the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan as a NATO-led operation wound down in the south.