Story highlights Joint U.S.-Afghan military operation hit al Qaeda in southern Afghanistan over five days

"We struck a major al Qaeda sanctuary in the center of the Taliban's historic heartland," U.S. general says

United States conducted 63 airstrikes, military says

(CNN) U.S. airstrikes and Afghan ground forces dismantled al Qaeda training sites in southern Afghanistan over five days in one of the largest joint operations the two countries have undertaken, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

The operation left "numerous" militants dead, the military said in a statement. The operation kicked off Wednesday evening in the Shorabak district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, and continued through Sunday.

"We struck a major al Qaeda sanctuary in the center of the Taliban's historic heartland," said Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, a U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan.

The Taliban established its presence in the region by capturing the city of Kandahar soon after the group was formed in 1994. Three years later, Taliban leader Mullah Omar forged a relationship with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who moved his base of operations to Kandahar.

After the September 11, 2001, attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan and dislodged the Taliban government that had sheltered bin Laden and al Qaeda, which orchestrated the terrorism. A U.S.-led-coalition has battled the Taliban for years, since a new Afghan government took charge.