Their deaths come as NATO forces continue a major offensive that started with air strikes Saturday.
"We're about to make history...This is the big surge...we're gonna go out there and fight with valor, and tremendous bravery," Captain Lorne Greer, 101st US Army Airborne said.
Under cover of darkness in the early morning hours, a massive and powerful force of 8,000 troops launched "operation dragon strike" - three simultaneous attacks along a river valley near Kandahar.
They call it "the green zone" a Taliban stronghold, never before entered by coalition forces.
Much of the first day was spent finding and destroying caches of Taliban weapons and explosives. As for the Taliban themselves, they're nowhere to be found - knowing the offensive was coming, they wisely fled the area to stand and fight another day.
Combat engineers using plastic explosives have destroyed bomb making facilities and cleared improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for advancing troops.
The "green zone" is the gateway to Afghanistan's 2nd largest city, Kandahar. And for years - going back to the soviet occupation - the Taliban has used it as their own personal highway, for moving troops and weapons, and for smuggling drugs.
The region was also a safe-haven for the Taliban, home to many Taliban "hotels" or bed-down positions. The Taliban wanted to hold this area. For now they're gone. Now it's the 101st's mission to find where they're hiding, and destroy them.
