Two British soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Two British soldiers were killed in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said today.

A soldier from 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment was killed by a rocket propelled grenade attack and a soldier from The Light Dragoons was killed by a contact explosion, the MoD said.

Their deaths, during a "deliberate operation" near Gereshk, central Helmand, last night, take the number of UK service personnel killed in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001 to 173. Next of kin have been informed.

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: "The loss of these soldiers, and colleagues, has come as a huge blow to us all.

"But it is the family, friends and loved ones, as well as the men and women who served alongside them, who feel the greatest pain and we offer them our deepest and heartfelt condolences, thoughts and prayers and take consolation from the fact that their deaths are not in vain."

Brigadier General Eric Tremblay, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), said: "Isaf soldiers grieve once again for the loss of these two first-rate soldiers.

"On behalf of all their brothers and sisters in arms, I wish to offer my deep sympathies to the families and friends of our fallen comrades."

He went on: "The insurgents are desperate and they are employing desperate tactics."

The deaths follow the loss of the most senior British Army officer to be killed since the Falklands War.

Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was killed in a blast which hit his Viking armoured vehicle near Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on Wednesday.

Last week, nearly 4,000 newly-arrived US Marines and 650 Afghan troops launched a massive pre-dawn operation in Taliban-controlled areas of Helmand.

The operation - named Khanjar, or Strike of the Sword - is aimed at clearing insurgents from the region ahead of Afghanistan's presidential election in August.

On June 19, the British Operation Panthers Claw was launched to drive the Taliban out of strongholds in and around Babaji, north of Lashkar Gah in Helmand.

Some 350 troops from the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, launched the attack in one of the UK military's biggest coordinated air operations of modern times.

Senior British officers acknowledge UK forces are stretched in Helmand but say they are not being "bailed out" by the Americans.

They point out that the new US troops have moved into more remote parts of Helmand, while the British retain responsibility for the more densely-populated central and eastern areas.