2 British soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Two British soldiers have been killed on operations in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence announced Friday. The troops were killed Thursday in separate incidents in restive Helmand Province. Their families have been informed. One soldier from the Parachute Regiment was fatally wounded by small arms fire while on an operation. Meanwhile another soldier, from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was killed while on duty near Adinza'i in the Gereshk Valley area. "During an operation to detain an insurgent, the soldier was working to recover a vehicle which had been damaged in an explosion when he was fatally wounded by an explosive device," said Task Force Helmand spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick. The deaths bring to 373 the number of British troops killed since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001. Of these, at least 329 were killed through hostile action. Some 25 British troops have died this year. Britain has about 9,500 troops in Afghanistan. Prime Minister David Cameron has said they will be withdrawn by 2015 once responsibility for security is handed over to Afghan forces. Speaking Thursday at the end of a two-day visit to Afghanistan, defence minister Liam Fox said the handover of security control in Helmand's capital Lashkar Gah late next month would not mean British troops coming home early. He said Britain was on track to complete its mission by the end of 2014. "We are well ahead of schedule for training up our target numbers of Afghan soldiers and police by the end of the year and, thanks to the outstanding mentoring being provided by British armed forces, the quality is improving all the time," Fox said. "Of course, transition does not mean an early exit or early drawdown of UK forces. "As Afghan capacity grows, the role of British and other international troops will evolve, moving from principally combat to training and support roles," he said.