Nearly 4,000 United States Marines, alongside helicopter gunships, entered the Helmand River valley in southwestern Afghanistan Thursday morning to try to take it back from the Taliban who profit on the areas poppy harvests. The Taliban’s opium smuggling schemes have heavily funded the Afghan insurgency.

The Marine Expeditionary Brigade leading the operation has been tasked with minimizing the Taliban’s rising dominance throughout the country. The operation is expected to be the first major push in southern Afghanistan by the now-larger American force.

Helmand is considered one of the deadliest provinces in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters are trained in hit-and-run guerilla warfare. The new mission, called Operation Khanjar, includes more troops and resources than ever before. Over 600 Afghan soldiers and police are involved in the operation.

“What makes Operation Khanjar different from those that have occurred before is the massive size of the force introduced, the speed at which it will insert, and the fact that where we go we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold, build and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces,” the Marine commander in Helmand Province, Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, an American soldier was captured by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Thursday, according to the LA Times. The soldier has been missing from his unit since Tuesday, said Army Capt. Elizabeth Mathias.

© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)