ries of 'shaping operations'
louboutin sale shoes , all part of Op (operation) Moshtarak," he said.
"They have been commanded jointly by Afghan and British commanders and have involved insertions by helicopter and ground of Afghan and British troops to locations to the west of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah
christian louboutin men shoes Deals," he said.
Marjah sits near the dividing line between the northern part of the province, patrolled by a nearly 10,000-strong British-led NATO contingent
louboutin sale shoes , and the southern areas patrolled by the U.S. Marines, who mainly arrived last year and now number some 15,000.
U.S. commanders say the operation to seize Marjah will be backed by a larger Afghan contingent than ever before, in an effort to demonstrate the Afghan government's ability to take part in enforcing its own security.
(Writing by Peter Graff; editing by Sugita Katyal)
World
* Inflation adds to rising energy prices - RWE npower
* SSE considering appeal against mis-selling verdict
LONDON, May 11 - The UK's top six utilitiesdefended their power pricing at a parliamentary committeehearing on Wednesday, saying they acted no faster to raiseprices than lower them.
Britain's energy regulator Ofgem had in March said a reviewshowed the companies raised prices faster in response to risingcosts than they cut them when costs fell.
"If you are in an environment where wholesale prices go upfaster than they come down, you might expect retail prices tofollow," David Mannering, director of economic regulation at RWEnpower (RWEG.DE)
louboutin sale shoes , told the committee.
"Continuous inflation" in the general economy also explains"why prices go up more often than they go down", he added.
Ofgem's review also said the watchdog would force thecompanies to auction up to a fifth of the electricity theygenerate to make room for new companies and boost competition.
"Even if it is true that prices go up faster than they comedown, which we don't accept, that doesn't in any way suggest themarket is not competitive," Mannering said.
The utilities include Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE.L),Centrica (CNA.L), Iberdrola's (IBE.MC) Scottish Power, RWE'snpower, EDF energy (EDF.PA) and E.ON (EONGn.DE) UK
louboutin sale shoes , whichrecently sold its UK power networks to U.S. power firm PPL(PPL.N).
Mannering's comments came days after Centrica, which ownsBritain's biggest household energy supplier, British Gas, saidend-user prices were yet to reflect a 25 percent increase inforward gas and power prices for winter delivery.
Wednesday's session was the first of two hearings by theEnergy and Climate Change Committee to look at Ofgem'sproposals, with a second session scheduled for June.
MIS-SELLING
A number of the big six are being investigated for lack ofclarity in approaching new customers on the doorstep. The MPs atWednesday's committee hearing aggressively questioned all of thecompany representatives on their practices.
Scottish and Southern Energy said it was considering anappeal against a verdict by the Guil