US marines raid Taliban position

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U.S. Marines have pushed deeper into the strategic Helmand province town of Dahaneh for the fourth straight day.

They met fierce Taliban resistance as surface-to-surface missiles and Harrier fighter jets pounded insurgent positions in the surrounding hills.

On Saturday, the marines launched a pre-dawn raid against a Taliban position on the southern edge of the town. They stormed a fortified compound and then blew up two towers where insurgents fired rockets and mortars at U.S. troops the day before.

Marines found marijuana plants growing in a courtyard and confiscated trigger plates used to manufacture roadside bombs.

A US Marine captain said local residents were angry about the death of a man reportedly killed in a gun battle the night before. He added that the Marines' offer to recover the body with the residents was refused.