Kabul, July 05: Two British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand, where US forces are carrying out a major offensive against the Taliban.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday that the two were killed in separate attacks which took place during an operation near Gereshk in Helmand Saturday night.
While the first soldier –from 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment– was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade, the second –from The Light Dragoons– was killed in a roadside bomb explosion.
The attacks came two days after US troops launched their biggest operation against insurgent strongholds in southern Afghanistan since the US-led occupation began in 2001.
Currently over 700 British troops are involved in an anti-militant offensive –codenamed Operation Panther’s Claw– in southern Afghanistan while more than 4,000 US Marines are engaged in a major operation –Operation Khanjar–in the same region.
Saturday’s deaths brought the number of UK personnel killed in Afghanistan to 173 since 2001
—–Agencies