Taliban militants battle to hold onto Marjah

Multiple firefights broke out in different neighbourhoods as US forces with Afghan soldiers in tow struggled to push beyond parts of the town that they had occupied over the weekend.

With gunfire coming from several directions all day long, troops managed to advance just 500 yards deeper as they fought off small squads of gunmen.

US military spokesman Captain Abraham Sipe said: "There's still a good bit of the land still to be cleared. We're moving at a very deliberative pace."

Western soldiers complained about rules of engagement that are supposed to prevent them firing at people unless they commit a "hostile act" or show "hostile intent."

US Lance Corporal Travis Anderson from Iowa alleged that Marjah residents are "using our rules of engagement against us," stating that his platoon had repeatedly seen men dropping their guns into ditches before walking away to melt among civilians.

Western officials have reported the deaths of just one US and one British soldier, both killed on Saturday.

Afghan officials claim that at least 27 militants have been killed in the offensive.

On Sunday, Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi said that resistance forces had killed 19 foreign and six Afghan soldiers.