Six British soldiers killed in Afghan blast

Six British soldiers were killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by an explosion while they were on patrol in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, a British military official said on Wednesday.

The incident marked the biggest single loss of life for British troops in Afghanistan since 2006 and takes the overall death tally for British forces there to 404 since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban.

Mohammad Ismail Hotak, a senior Afghan police official in Helmand, said the explosion was caused by a roadside bomb, the deadliest weapon used by insurgents.

The soldiers, five from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, were on a mounted patrol on Tuesday when their Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle was struck, the ministry said.

“I utterly condemn those responsible for this incident who will ultimately fail to derail a mission that is protecting our national security at home and making real progress in Helmand Province,” Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement.

“It is because of the continuing efforts of our armed forces … that we are on course to build an Afghanistan that can stand on its own two feet when UK combat operations cease at the end of 2014.”

Britain has some 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, a number due to be reduced in phases as it ends combat operations in the next two years.

“I don’t think soldiers see these round numbers, psychological milestones,” said a senior British military source in Helmand, referring to the fact that the number of British deaths in the Afghan war had exceeded 400.

“It’s disappointing to have this at the end of the tour but at this stage in the tour with how much progress we’ve made, we’re able to contextualise this.”

British forces are on a planned rotation out and being replaced.

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