The 2,000-strong force, which lost just one Marine, has withdrawn to an American air base in the southern city of Kandahar and is preparing to leave the country, Col. Frank McKenzie said. That withdrawal had already been announced.

The contingent, part of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed in late March in an attempt to divert militants from attacking preparations for historic elections.

But violence has continued and parliamentary elections have been shelved until April. A vote for president is set for Oct. 9, more than three months later than originally scheduled.

McKenzie said he "would not challenge" reports that more than 100 enemy fighters were killed during the Marines' four-month tour in Uruzgan, home of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and neighboring areas. He declined to give an exact figure.

One Marine was killed and 11 injured in combat operations, often conducted jointly with Afghan troops. None of the Afghans were killed, but about 15 were wounded, he said.

The fighting was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since last fall and brought to more than 600 the number of people killed in violence here this year.

McKenzie said his forces' "decisive combat success" had helped pave the way for Afghans in the Uruzgan area to register to vote in the upcoming elections.

But the level of fighting also illustrates the enduring resistance to foreign troops and the government of U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai more than two years after the fall of the Taliban.

Some 17,000 U.S.-led troops remain in Afghanistan, including a battalion from the 25th Infantry Division which has replaced the Marines in Uruzgan.

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