Even if you have been watching the news 24 hours a day you may have missed this story. Within an hour of the start of the U.S. invasion in Iraq, U.S. forces also launched its largest attack on Afghanistan in over a year.

The Pentagon says U.S. forces have launched a new assault on caves and potential hide-outs in the mountains of southern Afghanistan. This came after Washington received reports suggested high-ranking members of al Qaeda and the Taliban could be in the area.

The attack was focused in the Maruf district of Kandahar province.

Well about an hour ago I had a chance to speak with an Afghan-American woman who is visiting in the area, Masuda Sultan.

Democracy Now! listeners may remember the story of Masuda. She was living in New York at the time of Sept. 11 and traveled back to Afghanistan a few months later only to learn a U.S. attack had killed 19 members of her families. She has returned to Afghanistan to learn what happened.

• Masuda Sultan, Afghan-American speaking from Kandahar.