According to breaking media reports, some 4,000 Marines and 650 Afghan troops are involved in a massive operation, launched early Thursday morning, to reclaim the Helmand River Valley from Taliban control.

The BBC News website cites “officers on the ground” who say this is the “largest Marine offensive since Vietnam.”

The Washington Post reports that U.S. forces descended on Helmand province in helicopters and armored convoys. The sparsely-populated, arid area lost its government services after the Taliban evicted government officials and police officers.

The operation, the Post reports, represents a major tactical change for forces in Afghanistan:

Thousands of U.S. Marines poured from helicopters and armored vehicles into Taliban-controlled villages in southern Afghanistan on Thursday in the first major operation under President Barack Obama's strategy to stabilize the country.

The offensive was launched shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday local time (4:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, 2030 GMT Wednesday) in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and the world's largest opium poppy-producing area. The goal is to clear insurgents from the hotly contested region before the nation's Aug. 20 presidential election.

An American soldier, who disappeared after walking off his base in eastern Afghanistan with three Afghan counterparts, is believed captured, officials said today.

Spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the soldier disappeared Tuesday.

"We understand him to be have been captured by militant forces. We have all available resources out there looking for him and hopefully providing for his safe return," Mathias said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage applications plunged to a seven-month low last week as demand for home refinancing loans tumbled 30 percent, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

The drop does not bode well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market, which has been showing some signs of stabilization, with sales rising and home price declines moderating in many regions of the country.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended June 26 decreased 18.9 percent to 444.8, the lowest reading since the week ended November 21, 2008.

CAYENNE, French Guiana, July 1 (Reuters) - An Ariane rocket has launched from French Guiana on Wednesday the TerreStar-1 satellite, billed by the Arianespace rocket launch company as "the largest commercial communications satellite ever launched".

TerreStar blasted off from the European Space Agency's (ESA) launch centre in Kourou, French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America at 2.52 pm (1752 GMT).

It was released into orbit twenty-six minutes later.

Virginia-based TerreStar Corp TTSR.O plans to provide hybrid telecommunications to satellite and cellular handsets about the same size as a conventional smartphone.

The satellite is designed to provide service throughout the United States and Canada. Analysts estimated the cost of the satellite, launch and insurance to exceed $500 million.