Blast kills four British troops in Afghanistan
Friday, 27 February 2009
LONDON, Feb 26 (AFP): Three British soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan Wednesday from an "enemy explosion" while a fourth died of injuries sustained in a firefight, the ministry of defence said.
The unidentified trio of soldiers were wounded during a routine escort operation in the Gereshk district of Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban militia has been waging a bloody insurgency.
A response helicopter was called out, but the soldiers, part of a team mentoring the Afghan army, were pronounced dead by military doctors.
It is believed their heavily armoured Land Rover was blown up by either a landmine or a wire-triggered improvised explosive device.
The fourth casualty, a Royal Marine who was also not named, died in the Selly Oak military hospital in the central English city of Birmingham after being shot at while on a patrol in Sangin, also in Helmand province, Monday.
The deaths bring the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year to 12, and 149 since the US-led invasion of the country in late 2001.
The unidentified trio of soldiers were wounded during a routine escort operation in the Gereshk district of Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban militia has been waging a bloody insurgency.
A response helicopter was called out, but the soldiers, part of a team mentoring the Afghan army, were pronounced dead by military doctors.
It is believed their heavily armoured Land Rover was blown up by either a landmine or a wire-triggered improvised explosive device.
The fourth casualty, a Royal Marine who was also not named, died in the Selly Oak military hospital in the central English city of Birmingham after being shot at while on a patrol in Sangin, also in Helmand province, Monday.
The deaths bring the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year to 12, and 149 since the US-led invasion of the country in late 2001.