Afghan officials say military operations have cleared Taliban militants from the villages they had infiltrated outside of southern Afghanistan’s largest city.

Afghan military officials say an operation has been launched to root out any Taliban who have reportedly infiltrated villages outside of southern Afghanistan’s largest city.

Nato will soon assume direct control over most military operations in Afghanistan, a move that will place 12,000 more US troops under its authority, a spokesman for the alliance has said.

Nato was taking command of the 5,000-strong international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan’s capital today, a historic move that marks the alliance’s first operation outside Europe since it was created 54 years ago.

Nato is insisting that efforts to collect weapons from ethnic Albanian militants are right on schedule despite delays by Macedonia’s Parliament.