UK and US to launch offensive against Tailban in Afghanistan - Telegraph

UK and US to launch offensive against Tailban in Afghanistan - Telegraph: "The biggest offensive since foreign troops entered Afghanistan eight years ago will begin with more than 15,000 troops deployed for the attack, said Major Gen Nick Carter, the British commander leading the operation.

The “shaping” phase of the operation - in which British forces have been setting up a cordon around the area of the operations - began three weeks ago in advance of the imminent combat phase.

In the coming days Operation Moshtarak - or Together - aims to clear out more than 1,000 Taliban fighters from the Marjah and Nad-e-Ali areas of central Helmand where the insurgents rule the “ungoverned space” with their strict interpretation of Islamic law.

In addition to 3,000 British soldiers being used a surge in Special Forces thas been pushed into Helmand with troopers from the SAS, SBS and Special Forces Support Group bolstering numbers already on the ground."