Multiple outlets are reporting that Operation Moshtarak — the first major offensive of the Afghan surge and the largest of its kind since the beginning of the war — has been launched by a combined U.S., NATO, and Afghan force.

The offensive centers around the Taliban stronghold of Helmand province, and especially the city of Marjah, where coalition forces recently dropped leaflets warning residents not to give shelter to Taliban fighters.

At 4:30 p.m. EST, approximately 15,000 heli-borne and mechanized troops began assaulting the estimated 1,000 Taliban fighters dug into the city.

Operation Moshtarak, which means “together” in Dari, aims to replace the opium-smuggling local Taliban rulers with Afghani government officials, thereby cutting off a key funding source for the Taliban and improving the legitimacy of the coalition-backed government

Early this week, U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson told American and Afghan forces at Firebase Fiddler’s Green that “some of our units will go into some very heavy contact and I think some of our units will have less contact. We don’t know.”

“All I know is that we have done everything we can to prepare, and on the eve of this operation, I think we’re ready.”

Semper Fi.