A British journalist was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan yesterday, the British Ministry of Defence announced today.

US MARINES hiked through searing heat taking fire from small pockets of militants after landing in the Taliban-controlled southern region of tree-lined fields, mud homes and crisscrossing waterways in the first major operation under President Barack Obama’s strategy to stabilise Afghanistan.

Thousands of US Marines and hundreds of Afghan troops poured into villages of southern Afghanistan with armour and helicopters today in the first major operation under President Barack Obama's strategy to stabilise the country.