LONDON (AFP) – Two British soldiers serving in Afghanistan were killed by an explosion on Saturday while on patrol in Helmand Province in the south of the country, the Ministry of Defence in London announced.

One of the soldiers was from the Light Dragoons and the other from the Parachute Regiment and they were serving with the Brigade Reconnaissance Force.

They "were killed as a result of an explosion that happened whilst on a deliberate operation near Musa Qal?eh, in Helmand Province on the morning of 30 May 2009," a statement from the ministry said.

British troops are in Afghanistan in support of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is fighting an extremist insurgency and building up the Afghan security forces.

The deaths take to 165 the number of British service personnel who have died as part of operations in Afghanistan since 2001.


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