The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan troops launched a major offensive dubbed Operation Silicon against Taliban militants in the southern Helmand province on Monday, an ISAF spokeswoman Angela Billings told Xinhua.

The British-led operation, which is involving over 2,000 ISAF and Afghan forces, focuses on fighting Taliban rebels in Sangin Valley in northern Helmand, reports quoted military officers on the front line as saying.

The ISAF soldiers involved come from Britain, the United States, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and Canada, the reports said.

An ISAF spokesman in southern Afghanistan told Xinhua the offensive was just part of the ongoing massive Operation Achilles.

Over 5,500 ISAF and Afghan soldiers have been carrying out Operation Achilles in northern Helmand, a stronghold of Taliban rebels, since early March.

About 37,000 ISAF soldiers are being deployed across Afghanistan to fight militants and facilitate reconstruction.

Source: Xinhua