British death toll mounts in Sangin
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, March 8, IRNA -- Six British soldiers have been killed in the Sangin area of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan in the past week, bringing the mounting death toll to 15 in the region so far this year.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in London, the latest victim was killed in an explosion while on foot patrol in the Sangin area on Sunday afternoon.
The death came after the MoD announced the death of a British soldier as a result of small arms fire while also on patrol in the region on Sunday morning.
Another soldier, just 18 years old, died from wounds sustained in a in a firefight with insurgents at Patrol Base Bariolai to the north of Sangin District Centre on Saturday.
A 19 year old soldier was also killed in a roadside bomb explosion on Friday, while one died from small arms fire on Tuesday and another shot dad in the region on Monday.
Britain’s death toll in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001 has reached 272, approaching 100 more than suffered during the Iraq war.
Following a spate of killings in December, MoD spokesman Major General Gordon Messenger admitted that it is “no secret that Sangin is one of the most challenging areas in which British forces currently operate.”
“It sits in a crucible transit location for the insurgency and has for generations been the seat of significant destabilising inter-tribal frictions in Afghan society. It is also the centre of a major narcotics producing area,” Messenger said.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 1001183
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