Two British soldiers have been killed in fighting in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.
“Two members of the UK armed forces have been killed in action in Afghanistan,” a spokeswoman said. “The next of kin are being informed but there are no further details at the moment.”
The British Broadcasting Corp. said the two died during an attack in the Sangin area of the Helmand province in the southwest of the country, but the Defense Ministry spokeswoman could not confirm any details.
The deaths are the second and third British military fatalities since British forces were deployed to the volatile area of Helmand in recent months.
Thousands more NATO peacekeeping troops will be deployed by the end of July and this summer is seen as a critical period. Britain will soon have about 3,300 troops in Helmand, as part of an expansion by NATO forces into the south of the country.
A British soldier was killed and two more seriously wounded in a gunbattle with Taliban forces in Helmand earlier this month.
