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Operation Mountain Thrust was a U.S. commanded, Canadian and U.S.-led operation in the Afghanistan...

Operation Mountain Thrust was a U.S. commanded, Canadian and U.S.-led operation in the Afghanistan campaign, with more than 2,300 U.S., 3,300 British troops, 2,200 Canadian troops, about 3,500 Afghan soldiers and large air support. The operation was the largest offensive since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Its primary objective was to quell the ongoing Taliban insurgency in the south of the country. There was heavy fighting during June and July 2006, with Afghanistan seeing the bloodiest period since the fall of the Taliban regime. The Taliban showed great coordination in their attacks, even capturing two districts of Helmand province at the end of July, which were retaken a few days later. The Taliban suffered during the fighting more than 1,100 killed and close to 400 captured. Heavy aerial bombing was the main factor. But even so the coalition forces had close to 150 soldiers killed and 40 Afghan policemen captured by the Taliban. Tom Koenigs, the top U.N. official in Afghanistan, told the German news weekly Der Spiegel that the Taliban numbers of casualties do not reflect success. "The Taliban fighters reservoir is practically limitless," Koenigs told the magazine in an