KABUL -
A major new offensive against the Taliban got underway Thursday morning in Afghanistan. The strike comes amid reports that insurgents have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan after he walked off post with his three Afghan counterparts, officials said Thursday.
Spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the soldier disappeared Tuesday.
Afghan Police Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said the soldier went missing in the Mullakheil area of eastern Paktika province, where there is an American base.
The soldier was noticed missing during a routine check of theunit on Tuesday and was first listed as "duty status whereabouts unknown," a U.S. defense official said on condition of anonymity.
The missing man is an enlisted soldier, and his family has been notified.
Meanwhile, thousands of U.S. Marines poured from helicopters and armored vehicles into Taliban-controlled villages in southern Afghanistan on Thursday in the first major operation under President Barack Obama's strategy to stabilize the country.
The military says nearly 4,000 newly arrived marines. and 650 Afghan forces are involved in the mission. They've moved into Helmand Province which is heavily dominated by the Taliban.
The goal is to clear insurgents from the hotly contested region before the nation's Aug. 20 presidential election. The area is also the world's largest opium poppy producing area.
The Marines have not suffered any serious casualties and have seen only a sporadic resistance, said Lt. Abe Sipe, a spokesman for the unit. "The enemy has chosen to withdraw rather than engage for the most part," Sipe said. "We had a couple of heat casualties, but not deemed serious in nature at this time."
Officials described the offensive - dubbed Khanjar or "Strike of the Sword" - as the largest and fastest-moving of the war's new phase and the biggest Marine offensive since the one in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. British forces last week led similar, but smaller, missions to clear out insurgents in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar province.
Spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the soldier disappeared Tuesday.
Afghan Police Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said the soldier went missing in the Mullakheil area of eastern Paktika province, where there is an American base.
The soldier was noticed missing during a routine check of theunit on Tuesday and was first listed as "duty status whereabouts unknown," a U.S. defense official said on condition of anonymity.
The missing man is an enlisted soldier, and his family has been notified.
Meanwhile, thousands of U.S. Marines poured from helicopters and armored vehicles into Taliban-controlled villages in southern Afghanistan on Thursday in the first major operation under President Barack Obama's strategy to stabilize the country.
The military says nearly 4,000 newly arrived marines. and 650 Afghan forces are involved in the mission. They've moved into Helmand Province which is heavily dominated by the Taliban.
The goal is to clear insurgents from the hotly contested region before the nation's Aug. 20 presidential election. The area is also the world's largest opium poppy producing area.
The Marines have not suffered any serious casualties and have seen only a sporadic resistance, said Lt. Abe Sipe, a spokesman for the unit. "The enemy has chosen to withdraw rather than engage for the most part," Sipe said. "We had a couple of heat casualties, but not deemed serious in nature at this time."
Officials described the offensive - dubbed Khanjar or "Strike of the Sword" - as the largest and fastest-moving of the war's new phase and the biggest Marine offensive since the one in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. British forces last week led similar, but smaller, missions to clear out insurgents in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar province.
