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FOB SALERNO, Afghanistan (Army News Service, Dec. 20, 2004) – Taliban and al Qaeda holdouts operating in Regional Command East will not be getting a winter vacation this year. In conjunction with Combined Joint Task Force-76’s Operation Lightning Freedom, Combined Task Force Thunder recently launched “Operation Thunder Freedom.” The operation is designed to capitalize on the success of the Oct. 9 Afghan presidential election and continue that success through parliamentary elections scheduled for the spring, said Maj. Duke Davis, operations officer for CTF Thunder. Part of that entails hunting Taliban and al Qaeda militants through the Afghan winter, and sapping...

18,000 Troop Push Aims to Convince Taliban to Accempt Amnesty About 18,000 American troops have started a winter long operation against the Taliban rebels in Afghanistan, vowing to eliminate insurgents who could threaten parliamentary elections in the spring.The US Military said Saturday that the new push, dubbed Operation Lightening Freedom, would convince insurgents to accept amnesty pushed by President Hamid Karzai and allow foreign troops to pull back.The operation was initated after Karzia's inaguaration Tuesday as the country's first democratically elected president. Maj Gen. Mark McCann gave no details of any significant moves against militant targets. 'It is basically designed...

The US military in Afghanistan says it has begun a new operation against Taleban and al-Qaeda militants, ahead of elections planned for next year. A US army spokesman said the offensive, known as Operation Lightning Freedom, began after last Tuesday's inauguration of President Hamid Karzai. All 18,000 troops in the US-led force would be involved, he said. Analysts say the offensive also aims to persuade Taleban militants to accept a recent US amnesty offer and disarm. Operations and aid The US military says the aim of the operation is to boost security ahead of parliamentary elections planned for the spring...

U.S. may plan offensive in Afghanistan By STEPHEN GRAHAM ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER KABUL, Afghanistan -- Thousands of U.S. soldiers are preparing an operation against Taliban insurgents to preempt an expected spring offensive which could upset plans for Afghan parliamentary elections, a senior American general said in an interview Tuesday. The operation will begin within days of the Dec. 7 inauguration of Hamid Karzai as Afghanistan's first directly elected president - an event that itself is a potential target, Maj. Gen. Eric Olson told The Associated Press. "There could be an unhappy coincidence between the enemy's spring offensive and the parliamentary...