KABUL, March 31 (Reuters) - Two British soldiers from the NATO-led force in Afghanistan have been killed in an explosion in the violent south of the country, Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Monday. Taliban insurgents have vowed to intensify attacks on Afghan and foreign troops across the country and launch a wave of suicide bombings this year in their campaign to expel foreign troops and overthrow the pro-Western government. The British soldiers were caught in a blast while on a routine patrol on Sunday. "The soldiers were conducting a patrol in the vicinity of Kajaki, Helmand Province, when the vehicle they were travelling in was caught in an explosion," the British defence ministry said in a statement. A statement from the NATO-led force said the soldiers were taken to a British base in Helmand province after the attack. "The soldiers were airlifted to the medical facility ... and one soldier was pronounced dead on arrival and the other died subsequently," it said. Britain, a major troop contributor to the NATO force fighting Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents, has about 7,800 troops in Afghanistan, mostly in Helmand, a largely desert province cut in two by a strip of lush fertile land that produces nearly half the world's opium. The deaths brought to 91 the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted from power in late 2001 by U.S.-led forces. More than 200 foreign troops were killed in Afghanistan last year and more than 30 have been killed this year. Elsewhere, Afghan and foreign troops killed more than 10 Taliban fighters in a clash following a Taliban ambush in the southern province of Zabul on Saturday, the Afghan Defence Ministry said. (Additional reporting by Kate Kelland in London; Writing by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by Robert Birsel and Alex Richardson)
Turkish riot police take cover behind an armoured personnel carrier to protect themselves from petrol bombs and stones hurled by Kurdish protesters during clashes after the Newroz day celebrations in the ...
