The militants, meanwhile, dug in for a fight, reinforcing their positions with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons, according to witnesses.

Afghanistan says ready if thousands flee assault

British forces have already begun small-scale "shaping" operations in the area around Marjah. The International Committee of the Red Cross said "increasing numbers of war casualties" have already been arriving at a clinic it runs in Marjah.

NATO launches anti-Taliban operation in Helmand

Thousands of US and NATO-led forces have kicked off their biggest anti-Taliban offensive in the militant-infested southern Afghanistan. Local eyewitnesses told Press TV on Wednesday that heavy smoke is billowing out of the city of Marjah, in the heart of Helmand province. The assault follows earlier reports that US Marines in the region had come under fire from militants armed with sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Mythbusting Marjeh

Now that we are, finally, attacking an area we’ve been promising to attack since last October, the media is dutifully reporting on it. And by “reporting,” I really mean “repeating whatever the nearest uniform happens to mumble about it.” Because really, why should anyone there or in the home office check easily checked facts about Afghanistan? What matters is getting the story out, even if most of it is ISAF deliberately trying to spin a specific version of reality. So with that in mind, let’s talk myths!

Afghan and NATO troops prepare for assault on town

NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) — The preparations continue for what's expected to be a U.S. and Afghan attack on the biggest town in southern Afghanistan that's held by militants.

Marines today fired smoke rounds, and armored vehicles maneuvered close to Taliban positions as a way of testing insurgent defenses. Marines did draw some small-arms fire but suffered no casualties.

A NATO spokesman has called on Taliban militants holding the town to surrender.

Taliban, Marines exchange fire as battle looms

NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan -- U.S. Marines and Taliban insurgents exchanged gunfire Thursday on the outskirts of Marjah, a southern militant stronghold where American and Afghan forces are expected to launch a major attack in the coming days.

To the north, a U.S.-Afghan force led by the U.S. Army's 5th Stryker Brigade linked up with Marines on Thursday, closing off a Taliban escape route to the nearby major city of Lashkar Gah.

Get out of the way

FOR months now United States Marines in Helmand, Afghanistan’s bloodiest province, have been sporting T-shirts proclaiming their intention: “Just do Marja”. This refers to a cluster of Taliban-controlled villages close to Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital. Marja’s lawlessness and the protection it affords to insurgents and drug-traffickers has been frustrating the marines’ efforts nearby. The T-shirt wearers are about to get their wish. American forces, led by the marines, are preparing a big operation to clear the area.

US and Afghan troops ring Taliban stronghold

NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan -- U.S. and Afghan forces ringed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah on Thursday, sealing off escape routes and setting the stage for what is being described as the biggest offensive of the nine-year war.

Taliban defenders repeatedly fired rockets and mortars at units poised in foxholes along the edge of the town, apparently trying to lure NATO forces into skirmishes before the big attack.

NATO launches major Afghanistan offensive-witness

NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S.-led NATO troops launched an offensive on Saturday designed to seize control of the Taliban's last big stronghold in Afghanistan's most violent province, a Reuters witness said.

Attack on Taliban Stronghold Begins

MARJA, Afghanistan — Thousands of American, Afghan and British troops attacked the watery Taliban fortress of Marja early Friday, moving on foot, in trucks and through the air to destroy the insurgency’s largest haven and begin a campaign to reassert the dominance of the Afghan government in a large swath of southern Afghanistan.

The force of about 6,000 marines and soldiers — a majority of them Afghan — began moving into the city and environs before dawn. .

As marines and soldiers marched into the area, several hundred more swooped out of the sky in helicopters into Marja itself. There did not appear to be any resistance, though a ground assault with more soldiers concentrated within the city was expected to begin within hours.

“The message for the Taliban is: It will be easy, or it will be hard, but we are coming,” Brig. Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of the United States Marines in Helmand Province, told the men of Company K, Third Battalion, Sixth Marines before the operation began. “At the end of the day, the Afghan flag will be over Marja.”

Marjah Marines Begin Taliban Battle

In the no-man's land surrounding Marjah, Marines check it before they cross to make sure it hasn't been booby trapped. Armored vehicles called "breachers" are sent in first. These mine-clearing machines spread out a string of explosives and set them off, detonating any other bombs the Taliban may have placed along this route.

he Marines have had the enemy in their sights for days and occasionally they have exchanged fire. They know that they are about to enter a very dangerous city.

The military believes around 400 to a 1,000 hard-core Taliban fighters are holed up inside Marjah and they've had plenty of time to prepare for the fight, so the coalition is going in with overwhelming force. Thousands of Allied and Afghan troops have Marjah surrounded and these Marines are going to be leading the charge. Their commander says they're ready.

"They have a great battle plan and those leaders all the way from the NCO to the young captain will defiantly make a difference and we'll definitely be successful," said Lt. Col. Brian Christmas.

But winning the battle is only the first step. The key to victory here is to maintain control of the city for the long term, which is why the Marines are already reaching out to the local population.

"If you know where the Taliban are, you need to tell us," Christmas told local elders.

British troops head into the 'heart of darkness' as biggest Afghanistan offensive begins

'It is bloody dangerous out there' but he added 'this is what you have been trained for'.

'I repeat: much of this operation rests on us.

'Most important, we have thousands of Afghan soldiers with us, as our allies. We will work together to deliver a better future for the people of Helmand and Afghanistan. They are the prize.'

His words were reminiscent of the famous eve-of-battle speech by Colonel Tim Collins to British troops in Kuwait hours before he led them over the border into Iraq to attack Sadam Hussein's forces in March 2003.

Taliban killed in Helmand during fighting in massive Operation Moshtarak

Five Taliban fighters were killed during fighting in the last major Taliban stronghold in Helmand province on Saturday, after thousands of British and American troops attacked in the early hours.

An armada of helicopters ferried troops into the Marjah area of Nad-e-Ali district before dawn, and soldiers quickly engaged in sporadic firefights with waiting gunmen.

The operation, in a district which has become a hub of insurgent fighters, bomb-makers and opium-growers, has been described as the biggest of the war in Afghanistan.

Commanders said the force was making good progress against hundreds of Taliban fighters.

By noon on Saturday, Afghan generals said five Taliban fighters had been killed and eight more arrested without any casualties being suffered by the Nato or Afghan government forces. But Nato commanders have warned that there would "definitely be casualties" in the coming days.

Ten Afghan civilians killed in 'anti-Taliban' offensive

Ten civilians have been killed during a major US-led military offensive against militants in southern Afghanistan.

"Afghan President Hamid Karzai is deeply saddened by the death of ten civilians when a rocket hit a civilian house during the military operation," said a Sunday statement by the president's office, according to AFP.

"The president has ordered an investigation into this incident," the statement added.

This page is updated throughout the day as new operations are reported.

Caught in the open: a firefight with the Taliban

BADULA QULP, Afghanistan — "Medic!" Bullets cracked through the dry grass. "Medic!"

"Who's hit?" someone yelled. The American soldiers were pinned down in a ditch Sunday, bodies prone in the mud.

"I don't know!" another voice shouted in the din of gunfire.

A U.S. soldier was down, shot in the chest by an insurgent near the besieged Taliban stronghold of Marjah. A Canadian soldier in the same patrol took a bullet in the front of his helmet, right where the center of his forehead was, like a bull's-eye. He was stunned, but unhurt.

Where were the insurgents shooting from? Which of the mud-walled compounds up ahead?

The firefight in the Badula Qulp region of Helmand province lasted about 45 minutes and tapered off after a Cobra helicopter shot a Hellfire missile into the building where the Taliban were believed hiding. Soldiers said they found the body of one suspected insurgent and heard another may have been buried quickly

It was a small skirmish in the grand scheme of the Afghan war. The focus of the fighting was to the southwest in Marjah, where U.S. Marines launched an offensive a day earlier.