Strike of the Sword UNDATED (Associated Press) - Thousands of U.S. Marines and hundreds of Afghan troops are going after insurgents in southern Afghanistan.

The military says Operation Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword," started at 1 a.m. local time Thursday and involves nearly 4,000 newly arrived Marines and 650 Afghan forces.

They've moved into Helmand province, which is a Taliban stronghold. The region is also the world's largest opium poppy producing area.

British forces last week led similar, but smaller, missions to clear out insurgents in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar provinces.

Marines Corps Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson said in a statement that Marines will hold the areas they take and transition security to Afghan forces.


Pakistan's army say it has deployed troops to a stretch of the Afghan border to stop Taliban fleeing a major U.S. offensive in southern Afghanistan.

Spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Thursday the army was preparing for a possible movement of Taliban across the border from Afghanistan's Helmand province.

Pakistan shares a 1,600-mile (2,600-kilometer) border with Afghanistan. Taliban militants easily move across the poorly guarded and remote frontier.
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