KABUL, April 13: Thousands of Afghan and coalition troops backed by US and British warplanes continued strikes on Thursday on a known insurgent area, in one of the biggest operations in Afghanistan in a year.

About 2,500 troops launched Operation Mountain Lion on Wednesday with a series of predawn air and ground assaults in eastern Kunar province, in one of their biggest campaigns since the overthrow of the Taliban government in late 2001.

The US military said on Wednesday six insurgents were killed at the start of the assault, seen as direct retaliation to a new spring offensive launched by the Taliban with a stream of suicide blasts and other attacks. The operation started in Kunar’s Pech River Valley, “an area notorious for terrorist activity,” the military said in a statement. It aimed to “disrupt insurgents’ activities, deny them sanctuary and prevent their ability to resupply.”—AFP