U.S. Army spokesperson Col. Rager King addresses the media at the Army base in Bagram, Afghanistan

KABUL, March 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S. military launched a major attack early Thursday, March 20, in south-eastern Afghanistan, but said the timing of the attack, coinciding with a U.S. assault on Iraq, was a coincidence.

Thursday's assault came within an hour of an offensive on Iraq as U.S. bombed selected military targets in Baghdad following the expiry of a 48-hour ultimatum for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to go into exile, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

The attack seemed to be designed to send a strong signal to Taliban and Al-Qaeda members that war in Iraq would not distract the U.S. army from operations in Afghanistan.

Military Operations involved aircraft and troops attacking east of the main southern city of Kandahar.

A U.S. military statement issued from U.S. Bagram air base, north of Kabul said, "The White Devils of Combined Task Force 82 began operation Valiant Strike with an air assault at 6:00 am (0130 GMT) this morning".

"Valiant Strike will consist of offensive operations east of Kandahar," the statement added.

U.S. and Afghan troops headed south-east of Kandahar Wednesday night to conduct a hunt operation for Al-Qaeda fugitives, according to Kandahar-based Afghan commander Khan Mohammad.

Maruf lies 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) west of the border and 100 kilometers ( 62 miles) east of Kandahar.

Kandahar, the former stronghold of the Taliban, has been the scene of several attacks in recent weeks, following earlier intense military operations in the area.

There are thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan searching for Osama bin Laden and members of his Al-Qaeda network, prime suspects in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

At Bagram, spokesman Colonel Roger King was quoted by the Washington Post as saying that the air attack was carried out by Chinook, Blackhawk and Apache attack helicopters.

King said about 1,000 troops were involved, including support troops, with "considerably less than that on the ground."

"The operations in Afghanistan are completely independent of any operations in any other sectors because they have a completely independent mission, completely independent objectives, completely independent force structure."

Taliban movement was forced from power by a U.S.-led offensive in late 2001, launched after the September 11 attacks. Yet, Bin Laden's whereabouts remain a mystery.

Speculation that the net might be closing in on bin Laden rose after the capture of Al-Qaeda number three Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in neighboring Pakistan on March 1.