KABUL, June 21: Troops from the US and Pakistan, aided by Afghan militiamen, launched a massive operation along Afghanistan’s eastern border on Saturday.

Officials said US soldiers had arrived on Friday night with helicopters and vehicles at the border between Nangarhar province and Pakistan.

“American soldiers arrived last night. Two days ago they contacted us and said they wanted to come to the border and they said would be there three to four days,” he said.

US forces first launched an air assault to help clear the way for deploying troops.

Operation “Unified Resolve” was launched in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces “in order to deny sanctuary to anti-coalition forces and disrupt cross-border anti-coalition activity during the conduct of the operation,” Colonel Rodney Davis, a US military spokesman in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

The troops would be taking control of the border and mountain areas rather than searching houses, he added. US soldiers were going along the Kabul river where it forms the border with Pakistan and were accompanied by Afghan interpreters.

Nangarhar governor said Pakistan had also sent troops and tanks to its side of the border.

“Over the other side of the border thousands of Pakistani troops have arrived two days ago. They have tanks,” he said.

The US spokesman said “coalition forces and soldiers from the Fist Corps, and Afghan forces were conducting a cooperative combat and civil affairs operation in the Goshta and surrounding districts, Nangarhar province, east of Jalalabad”.

Goshta is about 30 kilometres from the border with Pakistan.

Colonel Davis said the operation was planned and conducted in cooperation with President Hamid Karzai and Nangarhar governor.

“Nangarhar province has historically served as an Al Qaeda stronghold,” he said, while adding that recent attacks had been “harassing” rather than a real danger.

“Task Force Devil along with Special Operations Forces blocked designated border crossings in order to prevent threat elements from crossing the border,” the US spokesman said, referring to Taliban and Al Qaeda and supporters of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who Washington has declared a wanted terrorist.

“We’re hunting down their leadership and ultimately we will win the war on terrorism,” he said.

Suspected Taliban remnants and their Al Qaeda allies regularly launch attacks on foreign and pro-government forces in the mountainous region, which is notoriously hard to control.

Around 500 US-led troops launched Operation Dragon Fury earlier this month in the Shahikot mountain valley of neighbouring Paktia province in a search for suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. It was followed days later by Operation Dragon Fury II in the same area.—AFP