US forces storm into Taliban areas

Garmsir: US Marines are in a "hell of a fight" as they storm into Taliban strongholds during a major assault in Afghanistan, their commanding officer said on Friday.

Nearly 4,000 Marines launched the operation on Thursday in parts of the southern province of Helmand, suffering their first fatality in a pivotal test of President Barack Obama's aggressive new strategy against the Taliban.

Commanders said they would persuade locals that the Afghan security forces - backed by Western troops - offered them a better long-term future than the fundamentalist Taliban militia as Afghanistan braces for elections next month.

On Thursday Marines were inserted into Garmsir and Nawa with little resistance, and quickly overran Khanishin further south where the Taliban had set up a proxy government and justice system.

But they also recorded their first death.

The Marines pushed deeper into Taliban strongholds in opium-producing areas along the Helmand River on Friday.

British forces announced meanwhile hundreds of soldiers had successfully seized 13 key canal crossings which would enable them to stop insurgents moving between Lashkar Gah and the key town of Gereshk.