Two British soldiers killed in Afghanistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Aug 2, IRNA -- Two British servicemen were killed in separate incidents in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in London announced Monday.
A soldier from 1st Battalion Scots Guards was killed by small arms fire in the Lashkar Gah District of Helmand Province on Sunday while trying to provide security to the Afghan people, the MoD said.
A Royal Marine also died on Sunday in an explosion while on foot patrol in the Sangin District of Helmand Province. Neither incidents were said to be linked.
The deaths come at a time when hundred of British troops have been involved in Operation Tor Shezada since Friday, aimed at removing insurgents from around the town of Saidabad.
A total of 327 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001, all but five have died since UK forces were first deployed in Helmand province in 2006.
British troops are currently suffering increasing casualties, with 82 killed so far this year, including 38 since the beginning of June. According to the Medical Research Council, the UK death rate is higher than that suffered during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
A majority of British deaths have been caused by Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) often roadside bombs, while almost a third has been killed in and around Sangin.
Last week, the publication of 90,000 US military records by Wikileaks revealed many tragic stories of the human costs of the nine-year war, including numerous civilian deaths previously unreported.
Former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind said the reality was that there has been “a realisation for several years that we are not going to get some outright military victory … perversely these documents may well make that clear to the public too."
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End News / IRNA / News Code 1257796
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