Three British soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Published on 07/08/2009 10:11

THREE British soldiers were killed and a fourth was critically injured when their patrol came under attack in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said today.

The servicemen, from the Parachute Regiment, died after their Jackal armoured vehicle was hit by an explosion north of Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province early yesterday afternoon.

Their families have been informed.

The troops were carrying out a routine security patrol alongside Afghan security forces when they were hit by a blast followed by small arms fire.

It is thought the three soldiers were killed in the initial explosion, the MoD said.

A fourth member of the patrol remains in a critical condition.

The MoD refused to confirm any more details about the soldiers.

But there are no Parachute Regiment units officially deployed to Afghanistan at the moment, and it is believed that the three were members of special forces.

The deaths take the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001 to 195.