ABC NEWS:
The explosion followed a day of intense fighting. Afghan troops moved in large numbers across southern Marja.

"There are four compounds in this area now controlled by the Taliban," says Lt. Col. Dastager, battalion commander of the Afghan National Army. "My men are headed in there to take them out."

On one of the main north-south roads here in Marja, Afghan forces fought on either side. After several hours of battle, they linked up with another force of Marines and Afghan commandos who have been fighting for five days.

It's the latest piece of Marja to fall under control of international forces and one of the most important tests for the Afghan army.

The Afghan troops are motivated, and they relish a fight. But they still need Marine muscle in the form of heavily armored MRAPS, sophisticated bomb detecting vehicles and air support, to back them up.

"The Afghan army's doing good, I mean they are doing really good," says Sgt. Chris Howe of the Second Amphibious Assault Battalion. Their eagerness to get involved, their tactics are sound, they are willing to fight for their own country.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bomb-explodes-marja-casualties-abound/story?id=9879131


Dutch Nearing Afghan Pullout

By JOHN W. MILLER and MAARTEN VAN TARTWIJK
AMSTERDAM—An election promise to pull Dutch troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2010 threatens to topple the Netherlands' government and undermine the U.S. mission as the Pentagon steps up operations against the Taliban.

Deputy Prime Minister Wouter Bos on Thursday reaffirmed his promise, putting him at odds with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and with the prime and foreign ministers of his three-party ruling coalition.

A Dutch withdrawal would be a blow to the Obama administration, which has worked to persuade European nations to maintain—and expand—their troop commitments in Afghanistan.

Since 2006, 21 Dutch soldiers have died, hurting public support for the mission. NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen sent the Dutch government a letter on Feb. 10 asking that its troops train security forces in central Afghanistan until August 2011.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703315004575073394281448752.html


Six Nato troops die in Afghan fighting
BBC: Nato forces in Afghanistan say that six of their soldiers have been killed in a single day during their major offensive against the Taliban in the south.

Two of those who died on Thursday were British; the nationalities of the other four have not been given.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8523357.stm