A British soldier was killed today following a firefight in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said.

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.

Two Nato troops and a British soldier have been killed during the ongoing anti-Taliban offensive in Afghanistan.

US Marines and Afghan soldiers stormed the Taliban-held town of Marjah today, as a major offensive began to break the extremists’ grip over a wide area of their southern heartland and re-establish government control.