The operation against the Taliban in Marjah has been a major trial for the Afghan military, showing the army is still far from capable of operating on its own. But its soldiers appear to be improving -- even if they don't always do things by the book.

Afghans make up about 2,000 of the 6,000 troops fighting in the southern town, with thousands more operating in the surrounding Nad Ali district -- the biggest Afghan contribution to an offensive of the eight-year war.

Although Marines say their work in Marjah isn't done, Afghans are bracing for a bigger, more comprehensive assault in neighboring Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban, where officials are talking to aid organizations about how to handle up to 10,000 people who could be displaced by fighting.

"I was in Kabul, and we were talking that Kandahar will be next, but we don't know when," said Tooryalai Wesa, the governor of Kandahar. He has begun working with international aid groups to make sure the next group of displaced Afghans have tents, water containers, medicine, food, blankets, lamps, and stoves.

MARJA, Afghanistan - Since the American-led offensive into the last large Taliban enclave in Helmand Province began nine days ago, local Afghans have faced a dangerous and uncertain world.

Their homes are now in a region where the Marines have established a presence, the Taliban have moved into the shadows as a potent guerrilla force, and the Afghan government insists it will soon provide services and bring Marja into the national fold.

Dutch troops have been stationed in Uruzgan province since 2006

Nato has assured Afghans they can rely on its support despite the uncertain future of Dutch troops there following the collapse of their government.

It came after the two largest parties failed to agree over a Nato request to extend the tour of the almost 2,000-strong Dutch contingent past August.

A Nato spokesman said it would provide support to Afghans whatever happened.

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) - Afghanistan's military and security forces are on track to meet their goal of recruiting 300,000 troops by the end of 2011, though retaining those troops has been a challenge, NATO's top military officer said Thursday.

With a high desertion rate, expanding the Afghan ranks has been difficult, but a decision last year to raise salaries helped to draw more recruits, said Adm. James Stavridis, supreme allied commander for Europe and the commander of the U.S. European Command.

* Commanders say Afghan offensive going well

* White House stresses work of Pakistanis, Afghans

* Many Taliban leaving Marjah, White House says (Writes through with more quotes and background)

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The White House called the capture of a top Taliban military commander "a big success" on Wednesday and said commanders reported a major offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan was going well.

reporting from outside marja and kabul, afghanistan - insurgent holdouts in the town of marja on sunday aimed sporadic but sometimes intense fire at u.s. marines and afghan troops seeking to solidify their hold on the southern afghan town. the marja

on the outskirts of marja, afghanistan - hundreds of afghan men walked for miles over dusty roads saturday morning to get to an open-air meeting to hear the marines explain those angry sounds of war coming from the taliban stronghold of marja

NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan -- U.S. and Afghan troops fought back small-scale attacks by Taliban fighters Friday on the northern outskirts of Marjah, as tribal elders pleaded for NATO to finish its planned attack on the Taliban stronghold quickly and carefully to protect civilians.

No casualties were reported in the series of skirmishes throughout the day. In one clash, Marines fought off an ambush against one of their convoys with 50-caliber machine guns and grenade launchers. Reporters with the U.S. 5th Stryker Brigade heard a large explosion, which troops said was from a missile attack against a Taliban compound.

KABUL, Afghanistan - With a military operation looming, Afghan leaders met Thursday with tribal elders from the southern city of Marja to tell them that, indeed, government and NATO forces would soon rid the area of Taliban fighters and that Afghan police officers and soldiers would stay behind after the fighting was over.

Hanif Atmar, the Afghan interior minister, told a group of about 350 elders from Marja's main tribes that a major military operation would begin in the area soon. When it is over, he said, about 1,000 police officers will be assigned to help keep the Taliban out.

DALLAS - The late Rep. Charlie Wilson worked tenaciously to funnel millions of dollars in weapons to Afghan rebels who fought off the Soviet Union, only to watch Afghanistan plunge into chaos and eventually harbor al-Qaida terrorists.

The course of events greatly saddened the rakish Texan, who died at a Texas hospital Wednesday at age 76, and believed it could have been avoided had the U.S. committed to rebuilding Afghanistan years ago.

DALLAS - Charlie Wilson, the former Texas Democratic congressman whose funding of Afghanistan's resistance to the Soviet Union was chronicled in the movie and book "Charlie Wilson's War," died yesterday. He was 76.

Wilson died at Memorial Medical Center-Lufkin after he started having difficulty breathing while attending a meeting in the eastern Texas town where he lived, said hospital spokeswoman Yana Ogletree.

KABUL (AP) - Helicopters ferried rescuers to and bodies away from the site of a massive avalanche that blocked an important mountain pass north of Kabul as the death toll soared Wednesday to 166, officials said. Hundreds more remained trapped in snowbound cars.

Afghan army troops dug through huge snowdrifts trying to rescue people from buried vehicles in the Salang Pass, a key road that connects the Afghan capital with the north.

Afghan army troops dug through huge snowdrifts trying to rescue people from buried vehicles in the Salang Pass, a key road that connects the Afghan capital with the north.

The 3.5 miles (four kilometers) of road that were subsumed in the avalanches have been cleared of snow, but are littered with abandoned or snow-packed cars that still make much of it impassable, said the public works minister, Suharab Ali Safari.

Improvised explosive devices are stopping Afghan civilians leaving a town where UK troops will launch a huge operation, the defence secretary says.

Bob Ainsworth spoke ahead of Operation Moshtarak to clear Taliban fighters from Marjah in Helmand province.

Thousands of coalition soldiers are involved in the offensive.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the number of UK casualties in 2010 "significantly depends on how this forthcoming campaign goes".

Bob Ainsworth says the military is trying to help Afghan civilians flee

Improvised explosive devices are stopping civilians leaving an area where UK soldiers are to begin a huge operation, the defence secretary says.

Operation Moshtarak is designed to force Taliban militants from the area surrounding the town of Marjah in Helmand province.

Bob Ainsworth told the Commons Defence Committee he wished to avoid any civilian casualties.

KABUL -- Taliban militants Tuesday prevented townspeople from fleeing a rural community targeted in an upcoming NATO-Afghan offensive, as families huddled inside their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire, witnesses said.

NATO and Afghan officials urged militants holding the southern community of Marjah - the biggest southern town under Taliban control - to lay down their arms and warned civilians to "keep your heads down."

kabul-nato and afghan officials on tuesday urged taliban militants holding a southern town to lay down their arms and warned civilians there to "keep your heads down" as u.s. and afghan troops prepare their first major offensive of the u.s. troop

camp shorabak, afghanistan -- thousands of afghan soldiers and police will join u.s. and nato troops in an upcoming offensive in southern afghanistan, playing their biggest role in any joint operation of the afghan war. the pending attack

ISTANBUL - The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan said Thursday that security there is no longer deteriorating, a view that represents his most optimistic assessment yet.

Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, meeting with reporters in advance of a NATO meeting here, pointed to signs of stability that, while difficult to measure, indicate Afghans also see improvements in many areas in commerce and daily life.