Two UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan, MoD says

The MoD said the death was not connected to Operation Moshtarak

Two British soldiers have died after an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The soldiers were both from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment Battle Group.

The blast happened north of the Musa Qala district of Helmand province on Tuesday. Both families have been told.

The number of British military personnel killed on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 stands at 275.

Lt Col David Wakefield, spokesman for the UK's Task Force Helmand in Afghanistan, said: "It is with deep sadness I must inform you that a single IED explosion... killed two British soldiers.

'Sacrifice'

"The soldiers were approximately 20km to the north of Musa Qala District Centre and were part of an ongoing operation to clear insurgents from an area where, until recently, the insurgents had held sway.

"Their determined courage in the face of the danger from IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and the sacrifice they have made will not be forgotten."

The MoD said the deaths were not connected to Operation Moshtarak, a major offensive against the Taliban involving 15,000 Nato and Afghan forces, including 4,000 British personnel.

A third soldier from the Royal Anglian Regiment died from wounds received in an explosion earlier this week.

The number of UK service personnel killed in Musa Qala since forces were deployed there in 2006 stands at 26.

British forces are to hand over responsibility for the area to US forces over the next few weeks, allowing UK troops to be redeployed to central Helmand, where most British soldiers are already based.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, in Kabul, said IEDs were "still the favoured method of attack" from the insurgents, but there was also a "shift in tactics" to "commando-style attacks".