NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. and Afghan forces pushed Tuesday to the edge of the southern Afghan town of Marjah, poised to seize the major Taliban supply and drug-smuggling stronghold in hopes of building public support by providing aid and services once the insurgents are gone.

As of Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010, at least 4,375 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

KABUL (AP) — A series of avalanches engulfed a mountain pass in Afghanistan, trapping hundreds of people in their buried cars and killing as many as 64 people so far, authorities said Tuesday.

OUTPOST BELLEAU WOOD, Afghanistan (AP) — Take a desert of yellow-orange dust so flat it looks like Mars, with a freezing wind that blows so hard it can lift a large tent.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Rep. John Murtha, who said the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq was based on "flawed policy wrapped in illusion" and called for a withdrawal of U.S. troops there, is being remembered as an advocate on Capitol Hill for those serving in military uniform.

KABUL (AP) — Three British soldiers have died in southern Afghanistan, officials announced Monday, raising Britain's death toll in the conflict to 256 — breaking the number of Britons lost in the Falklands war of 1982.

LONDON (AP) — Britain's inquiry into the Iraq war will seek meetings with former members of the Bush administration after taking evidence from Tony Blair and other key British officials, the panel's chairman said Monday.

CAMP SHORABAK, Afghanistan (AP) — Thousands of Afghan soldiers and police will join U.S. and NATO troops in an upcoming offensive in southern Afghanistan, playing their biggest role in any joint operation of the Afghan war.

Marine Cpl. Jamie R. Lowe