Explosions kill two more British soldiers in Afghanistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Feb 2, IRNA -- Explosions have killed another two British soldiers in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence in London reported Tuesday.
The soldiers, who were not named, were killed Monday by an improved devise explosion while they were patrolling near Malgir in Helmand province.
Their death brought to 253 the total number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001. The number is just two short of the number who died during the 1982 Falklands War, Britain’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
All eight victims of British forces in Afghanistan this year were killed in explosion.
It was reported that there were 7,228 improvised explosive device (IED) attacks throughout Afghanistan last year, a 120% increase over 2008, and a record for the war.
Nato's new civilian representative in the country, Mark Sedwill, has warned of an "awful lot of violence" to come as the coalition's military and political strategy is beefed up.
Soldiers would be needed in a war-fighting role for up to five more years and could be training Afghan forces for "a decade or more," said Sedwill, who was Britain’s former ambassador in Kabul.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 935556
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