US launches major Afghan assault

Hundreds of US soldiers launched an air assault in eastern Afghanistan today, part of a new operation the US military is calling its biggest since the fall of the hardline Taliban regime two years ago.

Soldiers from the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment stormed into an area east of Khost, a town along the border with Pakistan that has seen several recent attacks on coalition personnel, said Lt Col Bryan Hilferty, a US military spokesman.