US Marines Push Deeper in Afghanistan Assault

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 12:32 pm

KABUL: One U.S. Marine and two British soldiers were killed in a major offensive in Southern Afghanistan.
US Marines Push Deeper in Afghanistan Assault
One U.S. Marine has been killed and several others have been wounded in a major operation to take control of a valley in southern Afghanistan from the Taliban, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

A statement from the U.S. Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Helmand province said U.S. and Afghan troops were continuing the operation started on Thursday to “secure the local population from the threat of Taliban and other insurgent intimidation and violence.”

“One Marine has been killed in action, and several others have been injured or wounded throughout the day,” the statement

Also, two British soldiers have been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, including the first commanding officer to die in operations since 1991, the Ministry of Defence said Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, commanding officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, and Trooper Joshua Hammond of 2nd Royal Tank Regiment were killed while on convoy near Lashkar Gah in Helmand province on Wednesday.

Their deaths take the number of British service personnel to have died in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001 to 171.