Canadian troops in Afghanistan on Saturday took part in a major new military offensive against Taliban insurgents.

The offensive, known as Operation Keeping Goodwill, was launched in the Zhari district of Kandahar province, military officials said.

The operation began early in the morning when convoys of armoured vehicles rolled into the Zhari district, a traditional Taliban stronghold.

"All the objectives were attained," Lt.-Col. Claude Fornier, a Canadian military spokesman, told a media briefing.

Canadian soldiers were hit by roadside bombs and did engage in firefights, Fornier said, but there were only minor injuries.

"We have not suffered any serious casualties," he said, adding the military was "happy to say that we had the support of the population during these recent operations."

"Every single fighting soldier that Canada has here on the ground is involved in this operation," the CBC's David Common said from Afghanistan.

"The Canadians have gone in essentially to toss the insurgents that are there out — and to keep them out," Common said.

Canada has steadily increased its involvement in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

An estimated 2,500 Canadian soldiers are serving in the violent southern Kandahar region. Seventy soldiers have died since the mission began in 2002.

In September 2006 Canadian troops were part of another major NATO offensive called Operation Medusa. The air and land offensive was aimed at purging militants from one of their strongholds, in the Panjwaii area west of the city of Kandahar.