Canadian and Afghan troops have killed five Taliban militants in fierce clashes around an opium-rich southern village, the military said.

Two coalition soldiers were killed during a firefight in southern Afghanistan that also left about 45 militants dead, military officials said today.

More than 80 Taliban militants have been killed in a series of attacks this week by Afghan and coalition forces, the military said.

Afghan and coalition forces killed about 82 militants in multiple assaults across southern Afghanistan, the military said Saturday.

SOUTHERN Afghanistan will witness “significant fighting” between US-led coalition and Taliban forces for several months before Nato takes control of the region, the US army warned yesterday.

AFGHAN and coalition troops, pushing ahead with their largest offensive since the ousting of the Taliban five years ago, have killed about 85 suspected insurgents in targeted attacks over the past few days in southern Afghanistan.

Coalition forces killed 45 insurgents at two camps in southern Afghanistan as they pressed forward with a major anti-Taliban offensive, military officials said today.

A bomb exploded aboard a minibus taking Afghan workers to a coalition air bae today, killing seven, as a major anti-Taliban military offensive got underway across southern Afghanistan.

More than 10,000 Afghan and coalition forces have begun a massive anti-Taliban operation across southern Afghanistan, the largest offensive since the 2001 invasion that toppled the former regime, the US military said today.

An 11,000-strong assault is to be launched on militants in the southern mountains of Afghanistan, the biggest offensive since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.