With the US pull out from major Iraqi cities, many believe Washington is switching its focus to Afghanistan. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama announced he'd send 17 thousand extra US troops there.

The final batch of some 85 hundred US Marines is arriving in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand province.

The Marines launched a helicopter assault early on Thursday in the lower Helmand River valley.

The operation involves nearly four thousand Marines and US sailors, and about six hundred and fifty Afghan troops and police.

By the end of this year, 68 thousand US troops will be in Afghanistan, more than double the number at the end of 2008. General Stanley McChrystal is the top commander of the US and NATO troops.

He told commanders in Afghanistan he wants a "cultural shift" away from conventional warfare towards counter-insurgency operations. The aim is to win the support of the Afghan people.

(CCTV July 3, 2009)