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US forces face resistance in clash with Taliban

US and Afghan forces have been facing resistance from Taliban militants in the southern Afghan town of Marjah where the joint forces launched a major operation.

The assault started before dawn on Saturday with airborne attacks and involved 4,500 US Marines, 1,500 Afghan troops and 300 US soldiers.

“At 0230 this morning (2200 GMT Friday), helicopters inserted combined forces into Marjah town,” said Lieutenant Josh Diddams, Spokesman for the US Marines at Taskforce Leatherneck in Helmand.

An Afghan army commander announced that five Taliban militants were killed in the first hours of the assault codenamed “Mushtarak” in the town of Marjah, a major Taliban stronghold.

The operation, the first since US President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan in December, is a major test of Obama’s strategy to end the eight-year war against the Taliban.

The US announced the decision to launch the operation earlier to help reduce Afghan officials’ criticism about civilian casualties which has been a vexed issue between the two sides.

But the residents of the town and the villagers around Marjah have been facing difficulties to flee the region, which is surrounded by a treacherous network of canals and heavily mined fields and roads.

Thirty-four Marjah elders have sent a letter outlining their worries to the provincial government.

Earlier a local Taliban commander Qari Fazluddin had told Reuters that about 2,000 militants were ready to fight in Marjah, a town considered to be the Taliban’s last big stronghold in Afghanistan.

The group says it has already started launching mortars, killing at least 25 foreign troops in fresh attacks.

Taliban has described the operation as “more propaganda than military necessity.”

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