The United States has launched one of its biggest military assaults on Afghanistan since Operation Anaconda a year ago but insisted it was a "coincidence" that the offensive began on the same day as the attacks on Iraq.
Up to 1,000 troops and attack helicopters converged on villages in southern Afghanistan early this morning to flush out al-Qaida terrorists and their allies, a US army spokesman said.
The operation, code-named "Valiant Strike", began with an air and ground assault in the remote mountains of southern Kandahar province, Colonel Roger King said.
