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 SANGIN VALLEY, Afghanistan (AP) - British troops pushed into a Taliban stronghold awash with opium poppies Monday, drawing mortar and machine-gun fire, in the latest NATO drive to help the government take control of southern Afghanistan.
As Operation Silicon got under way, the U.S. military reported killing 136 rebels during three days of clashes in the once-stable west, the deadliest fighting in the country since January.
The operation in the southern province of Helmand and the bloodshed in the western province of Herat show how Taliban militants have been able to regroup in the five years since a U.S.-led invasion drove them from power.
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