Military officials said the offensive -- dubbed Operation Moshtarak -- got under way at 2 a.m. (4:30 p.m. ET Friday).
Moshtarak, meaning "together" in ther Afghan Dari language, symbolizes the fact that combined forces are serving alongside one another.
By early Saturday, at least one military company said it had gained a small foothold in the town of Marjah, a place thought to be the last Taliban stronghold in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand.
But as the company of about 200 U.S. Marines moved to increase its foothold in Marjah, insurgents fired guns and rocket-propelled grenades at them.
At the same time in another part of Marjah, soldiers were in a fierce gunbattle with insurgents, military officials said.
Five Taliban fighters were killed and eight were arrested in the early hours of the operation, said a spokesman for the Helmand province governor, Dawoud Ahmadi.
Some of about 15,000 troops from the United States, United Kingdom, Afghanistan and Canada are attacking Taliban targets in and around Marjah, a city of 80,000 to 100,000 residents, where the Taliban has set up a shadow government, coalition authorities said.
The offensive turned a main bazaar near the city center into a ghost town after residents were warned to leave the area. NATO forces said they are following a directive not to shoot at civilians, some of whom are still on the streets.
By about 8 a.m. (10 p.m. ET Friday), two firefights had erupted between the Taliban and U.S. Marines in Marjah.
"Marjah is the last enemy sanctuary in the Marine area of operations," said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan commanding general. "This operation is designed to reconnect the people of Marjah with the legitimate government of Afghanistan. We are fully partnered with the Afghan government for this operation, and we have the resources we need to be successful."
The Afghan government described the offensive -- carried out in central Helmand with the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, ISAF Regional Command (South), and the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team -- as "clearing" operations.
The coalition said its troops expected to confront up to 1,000 entrenched Taliban fighters. It also expected foreign Taliban fighters to battle to the death but were prepared for local Taliban members in Marjah to try to escape.
"We will follow the enemies and bring them to justice," said Gen. Mohiyiden Ghori of the Afghan National Army.
In the past few days, forces from Afghanistan, Britain and other nations conducted air and ground operations to prepare for the assault. They also dropped leaflets in and around Marjah warning residents not to allow the Taliban to enter their homes.
More on Operation Moshtarak from Afghanistan Crossroads blog
The goal is to force the Taliban from Marjah to free the opium-rich province of Taliban influence and drug traffickers. It's an example of a U.S. strategy to focus on population centers and separate the Taliban from Afghan civilians.
The town of Marjah is surrounded by roadside bombs, military officials said.
They said the Taliban has had months to plant the bombs, most of them homemade mixes of ammonium nitrate, shrapnel fuel, salt or flour.
Such bombs -- which are detonated remotely or by pressure plates -- have caused about 80 percent of the deaths in fighting in Helmand province, military officials said.
Massive armored vehicles, called assault breacher vehicles, were leading the charge into Marjah and helping destroy roadside bombs, officials said.
Explosions could be heard Saturday morning as the breacher vehicles destroyed roadside bombs.
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