Two British soldiers among dozens killed in Afghanistan (Roundup)

May 28, 2009, 14:06 GMT

   Kabul - Two British troops and one Afghan soldier were killed in roadside bombings in southern Afghanistan while US and Afghan troops killed nearly three dozen suspected militants in a clash and airstrike in the eastern part of the country, officials said Thursday.

   One British soldier serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in a roadside bomb blast Thursday in southern Afghanistan, the British Defence Ministry said in a statement.

   The second British soldier died in a hospital in Britain late Wednesday after being flown home for treatment for injuries sustained May 22 in a roadside blast near Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province, it said.

   The ISAF in Kabul also confirmed the deaths of the soldiers in a statement Thursday.

   Separately, an Afghan soldier was killed and another was wounded Wednesday in another roadside attack in Helmand, the Afghan Defence Ministry said.

   Meanwhile, US and Afghan troops targeted a compound used by a 'senior' militant leader identified only as Sangeen, in Paktika province's Wor Mamay district, the US military said in a statement. It accused him of operating the compound as a staging area for future attacks in the province.

   Several militants were killed in combat as well as from their own explosives while the rest were killed when the US-Afghan forces called in an airstrike on the militants' firing positions, it said.

   'During the assault, at least six enemies detonated suicide vests, killing only themselves,' it said, adding that one coalition soldier received minor wounds in a blast.

   The US statement said 29 militants were killed in the operation, but an Afghan army statement said its forces counted the bodies of 35 militants left in the destroyed compound.

   Because of the remoteness of the area and security concerns in the district that borders neighbouring Pakistan, it was difficult to verify the death toll independently.

   The statement did not say whether Sangeen, who is also known as Fateh and is accused of involvement in numerous attacks in eastern Afghanistan, was among those killed.

   The US military statement also said weapons caches containing rocket-propelled grenade launchers, ammunition, AK-47 assault rifles, heavy machine guns and suicide vests were discovered at the compound.

   Hamidullah Zewak, a spokesman for Paktika's governor, said four vehicles and 25 motorbikes were also seized.

   In another incident, the Afghan Defence Ministry said Thursday that its troops, backed by international forces, killed 30 suspected militants in neighbouring Khost province Wednesday after the militants attacked their joint base.

   The ISAF said in a statement Wednesday that the clash in Khost left 15 militants dead.

   Taliban-led violence is on the rise in Afghanistan despite the presence of more than 70,000 international troops deployed from 42 nations.

   The US military, which already provides more than half the foreign forces in the country, has ordered the deployment of 21,000 additional troops this summer.