Marja offensive: fighting fierce but sporadic

Fighting has slowed in the battle for Marja,with Taliban fighters still engaging in fierce resistance but with less consistency,a spokesman for international forces said Tuesday.

The spokesman,Lt Col Todd Vician,said that though international forces were meeting pockets of resistance, the fighting was sporadic,at times intensive on Tuesday,the fourth day of the offensive in central Helmand Province. He said,Taliban attacks were largely uncoordinated. There were no confirmed reports of further casualties on Tuesday. Afghan officials said Monday that three of their soldiers had been killed.

A local Taliban commander,Mullah Sarajuddin,was killed in Washer District,in Helmand Province on Monday night along with four Arab fighters,said the spokesman for the governor of Helmand. He was believed to be a district military commander for the Taliban. The US-led NATO force has not confirmed the claim.

In an episode unrelated to the offensive,at least 10 people were killed after a vehicle chase and firefight with coalition soldiers in Washir District,just north of Marja,according to Colonel Vician,who said all the victims were combatants. Separately,the Helmand governors office denied charges by residents that 15 civilians had been killed in that episode.

The Taliban on Monday claimed to be winning the fight in Marja,according to an e-mail message to journalists in Afghanistan. The message asked foreign journalists to visit and see the coalition forces shameful defeat in Marja area. Invading forces have made no spectacular advancement since the beginning of operations, it said.