Two British troops killed in ambush in Afghan south

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) – Two British soldiers were killed and a
third is missing and presumed dead after an ambush in southern
Afghanistan the day after NATO forces took over the region from
U.S. troops.

A British convoy was attacked on Tuesday by rebels using
rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns in Helmand
province — one of the most dangerous in the country — a
British Defense Ministry spokeswoman said in London.

“Two U.K. soldiers have died. One is missing presumed
killed and another is seriously injured,” she said.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf, said the group carried
out the ambush, killing six NATO soldiers. He said the rebels
had killed another seven in a separate clash further south.

But an ISAF spokesman rejected the Taliban death toll
claim.

Taliban guerrillas and drug barons have been operating for
years in Helmand, the biggest drug growing area in a country
that is the world’s major heroin producer.

Residents said heavy fighting erupted in Musa Qala district
where the soldiers were ambushed.

NATO TAKEOVER

The ISAF spokesman confirmed the fighting, saying it was
part of an ongoing operation but giving no further details.

On Monday, NATO forces took over security in the south from
the U.S.-led coalition to begin one of the biggest ground
operations in the alliance’s history and allow the United
States to withdraw about 3,000 soldiers from the country.

More than 1,700 people have been killed in the Taliban-led
insurgency, attacks by drug barons and operations by U.S.-led
forces this year, mostly in the Taliban heartland in the south.

The violence is the bloodiest since the U.S.-led coalition
overthrew the Taliban government in 2001.

NATO troops, mostly from Britain, Canada and the
Netherlands, have been taking up positions in the south for the
past few months and have already been engaged in heavy fighting
with Taliban guerrillas, in some cases allied with drug
runners.

British forces lead the command of NATO in Helmand where
six British soldiers have been killed in combat in six weeks.

The NATO takeover should allow the U.S. army to trim the
size of its force from 23,000 to 20,000 and the alliance is
expected to expand its mission this year into the east where
the militants are also active.

On Tuesday, Afghan and coalition forces detained four
suspected al Qaeda operatives during a raid on a village in the
southeastern province of Khost, a coalition statement said.

The raid was part of an operation to stop attacks on Afghan
and coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan, and smuggling of
explosives.

There was no resistance or casualties sustained on either
side, the coalition statement said.