The assault on the Taliban stronghold of Marja in Helmand is underway; five Taliban fighters and one British soldier have been killed. The Taliban killed three US soldiers in southern Afghanistan and killed an ISAF soldier and a civilian in a suicide attack in Kandahar. Security forces detained a Haqqani Network commander, a Taliban sub-commander, an IED expert, and an undisclosed number of fighters in Kandahar, Khost, and Nimroz.
