British commanders said the ongoing offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan was going well, despite the deaths of three servicemen in as many days.

The first stage of the fierce onslaught against the Taliban has “gone to plan”, the UK Ministry of Defence said today.

Squads of US Marines and Afghan soldiers slowly pressed deeper into the Taliban stronghold of Marjah today, painstakingly clearing out booby-trapped houses one by one.

The fiercest military offensive on the Taliban since the conflict in Afghanistan began has so far gone “as well as it could have done”, British Army chiefs said today.